


Beyond the Stars

by TheGreatPikminZX789



Series: Beyond the Stars [1]
Category: Etrian Odyssey Series, 世界樹の迷宮V 長き神話の果て | Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-05-28 05:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15041633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatPikminZX789/pseuds/TheGreatPikminZX789
Summary: Myths had been spread about Yggdrasil. And, for the first time, Iorys opens up the Labyrinth to explorers from all over the world. Explorers all over Arcania travel to Iorys in hopes of climbing the mythical tree. And although many stories may not reach the pinnacle of history... one might find that there's more beyond the myths at first glance. The labyrinth awaits...





	1. Entering Iorys

**Author's Note:**

> I know it feels weird to start off writing stories about Etrian Odyssey when I start at a game that 'supposedly' takes place after EOIV... but I have a perfect reason for that, which probably won't be coming up in some time. That aside, I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Everyone in the land of Arcania has heard and spread their myths of Yggdrasil and each of Arcania's four races; Earthlains, Celestrians, Therians, and Brounis alike believed these myths for years, even when exploration of Yggdrasil was not allowed. Now that Iorys opens Yggdrasil for exploration, Iorys has gained the attention of many wanting explorers of Arcania, itching for a journey. Many traveled to Iorys in hopes of being the first to reach Yggdrasil's peak to proclaim themselves as the first to clear Yggdrasil, or to pass their names through history. And some hope to follow the mythology of their race and find what awaits at the top...

As the doors of the carriage open, a man clad in armor stepped down from the carriage and took a few steps away, stretching his arms as if he had just woken up. His brown hair swayed in the wind that flowed through the area. His black armor reflected the light of the sun, indicating to anyone staring at a glance, that he was a Fencer. He took note of the bustling city of Iorys; people chatting as they walked to their destination, explorers with the intent of exploring Yggdrasil shopping for weapons and armor...

Many different guilds made their way to the labyrinth, determined to strive for their goal, and citizens of Iorys pass them by, going about their daily lives. The Fencer began to smile, as if he was looking forward to whatever he had planned today. He then took a deep breath, before he turned back to the carriage.

"Here we are, Kyo... The city of Iorys! The trip was long, but it was worth it, don't you think?"

The man spoke to a Celestrian woman, who had stepped out of the carriage and paid the driver before turning to the Fencer and began walking towards him. Her skin color was contrary to the light skinned Fencer, as her brown skin was easily notable. The wind carried her velvet hair, revealing her other dark cyan eye that was hiding behind her hair.

"Despite our delay, I'll say that was worth it, Korey." Kyo affirmed, finally standing right next to Korey, taking in the sight before her.

"It's amazing how this place is a lot more lively than our village... I can assume all this hype about exploring Yggdrasil is what attracted so many to this city." She continued, as her eyes gazed at the giant tree far beyond Iorys.

"And it even lives up to it's title of 'World Tree'! Just look at it, Korey!"

Korey soon followed Kyo's gaze towards the giant tree, and he was amazed at the sight of Yggdrasil. It was breathtaking, yet rather scary that a tree like Yggdrasil could grow to that size. The roots that made up Yggdrasil were spiraling around it like a spiral staircase... Who knows how long it even existed to even have the very bark form like that?

The leaves were visible, but even if he couldn't see beyond the leaves, imagining what was inside at the top of the tree intrigued Korey's mind. If the myths were true, whatever is up there would most likely benefit the only guild who reaches the top... Though Korey was certain that if a reward is there, there'd be one final trial that must be overcome. But the idea of a labyrinth on top of the world tree was a bit far-fetched on its own, so Korey retreated into his own thoughts for the time being.

"Yeah... I can understand why they would come here, though. Anyone who believes in the myths of their race surrounding this tree wouldn't waste the opportunity of a lifetime to enter it." He commented, continuing to look at the world tree in awe, until Kyo spoke up.

"Although I can't help but ponder if bandits will likely attempt to raid Yggdrasil of its mysterious treasures before anyone else... It'd be a shame to have entered Yggdrasil only to find all it's treasures taken from under our noses."

Oh yeah. Bandits... Bandits were bad news, no matter where anyone went.

They prefer gold over historical value. Even if a treasure had a history, they would steal it regardless of whatever history it may have had. Although with Yggdrasil under strict watch up until recently, it's hard to fully determine if bandits would have an interest in Yggdrasil or its treasures.

"It's possible that they might be interested in what lies within, but that's only an educated guess on my end." Korey started. "Besides, I'm sure the Council has some sort of measures for that... At least, I _hope_ they do." He continued, uncertain how Iorys would fair with bandits who are after Yggdrasil's treasures.

But that's neither here nor there. Now's not the time to be talking about bandits. The duo were still new to Iorys, and they  _needed_  to know what the important areas in this vast city were, and just standing there was not gonna benefit the both of them.

"First things first... We need to take a look around the city and get a grasp for where we will need to go once we've decided on our guild name. Does that sound good?" Kyo inquired, with confidence in her voice.

"Yeah, better we get a grasp of our location and settle than taking a nice long sleep and have to find out which place is where in the morning. Like-"

"A shop?" Kyo interrupted, making Korey look at her. Korey looked at his friend for a couple of seconds, with a dumbfounded look on his face. Was Kyo really psychic or something?

"...Y-Yes. We'd be dead meat if we don't keep track of that store... Can't help the people of Iorys without a shop!" He continued, almost stuttering his words.

Kyo can't help but look at Korey with worry on her face. "Look, Korey, I know you're dying to be an explorer and all, but are you really sure you'll keep this whole 'help others, form bonds with guild-mates' thing? What if you'll forget it when we're exploring Yggdrasil?" She asked, filled with concern.

"Relax, Kyo, I'm not going to forget it! Besides, my family told me that by helping others, you'll form bonds with them, and they will help you in turn. Hell, that's even how my mother and father met each other... When we get back from climbing Yggdrasil, I'm sure they'll be proud of us for how far we've accomplished!"

Korey beamed, attempting to dampen Kyo's worries. Her worried expression changed to a smiling grin. She had been best friends with him for a long time, so she had to believe he would be correct, but the thought of seeing Korey's parents be proud of him, really encouraged Kyo.

"I see... Well then, that's enough chatter, let's see if we can find that Explorer's Guild building. The longer we wait, the less time we'll have to form a guild!" Kyo inquired, motioning Korey to follow her as she started to look around.

"Should've said something sooner, then! We would've probably found it if we were walking around in the first place..." Korey chuckled, as he attempted to catch up to Kyo. 

Minutes passed as their hunt for the Explorer's Guild. The sun was setting, and it was rather clear they wouldn't find it without directions. Asking for directions from a nearby guild, they managed to find their way to the building.

The only thing that's stopping them is a long line of explorers. A very, very long line. Earthlains, Celestrians, Brounis, and Therians filled the line, males and females waiting in anticipation to form their guild.

"Damn it, we were too late... Guess we'll likely not gonna register today. I ain't in for standing around all day." Kyo complained, crossing her arms.

Her anger was understandable. If something brand new was coming out, and you only heard of the news like, five in the afternoon, you'd probably be angry if you saw a huge line, and you'd have to wait for hours until you get your hands on the very thing you came there for.

Korey could only sigh in disappointment. "Oh well. At least we got an idea where the Guild building is. Now all we have to do is pray that the line will get shorter by tomorrow."

"We're gonna need a lot of hope that it  _WILL_  be shorter tomorrow..."

Kyo commented, facing away from the line to Korey. "On the bright side, we did find the shop on our way here, so we don't have to worry about tracking it down later." Korey articulated, as Kyo nodded in understanding and took a couple of seconds to calm down.

"Besides, we kinda need to search for people to join our guild. So even if we DID get in, the two of us likely can't handle whatever the labyrinth has within..." Kyo suggested, as Korey blinked a couple of times as the realization hit him. Most of the guilds they came across in Iorys have had five people, and even some of them were looking for recruits.

There were even explorers who looked like they were common people, yet seemed quite capable of wielding a weapon or two. How he managed to miss that was beyond his understanding. "...Crud, you're right. The Lux Guild wouldn't be a success if it's just the two of us!" Kyo looked at Korey with surprise.

" ... _Lux Guild?_ What kind of name is Lux Guild?" She questioned with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"It's our Guild name, Kyo. Though I suppose if you want to be simple about it, you could always call it the Light Guild... Though in my opinion, the Lux Guild sounds cooler than Light Guild." Korey clarified.

Kyo nodded back in understanding. "Though I suppose that might also be after how fifty-fifty your luck is. You did have hard times in the past because of it..."

"Yeah, I guess it d-" Korey started, realizing midway through that he was being made fun of by his best friend. "Hey! Don't make fun of my luck! I can't help how things go right or wrong half the time!"

Kyo couldn't help but giggle at Korey's delayed reaction. It had been some time since she had joked around him, so she felt relieved to have gotten one joke on him prior to their soon-to-start adventure. "I'm only kidding, Korey. I just can't believe how quick you came up with a name for our Guild." Kyo jested, before commenting on the swift name choice.

"To be fair, it took half of our trip and up until we found the huge line that part of my brain was so focused on finding a name..." Korey started, as he began to pose dramatically. "The Lux Guild! Shining light beyond the darkness of the labyrinth, helping those in need! Defenders of just-"

" _Aaagh!_ "

" _Gyah!_ "

Korey felt himself lose balance out of the corner of his vision and fell down, like someone had just fell down on top of him.  _Literally_  didn't even see that person coming. Guess Korey was just way to focused in devoting the introduction of his guild name that he didn't notice someone accidentally falling on top of him...

"Ack! Korey! Are you alright?!" Kyo exclaimed, running over to him.

Thankfully, his armor saved him from injury, but who the hell would just bump into him, much less,  _fall_  on top of him?


	2. Met by fate

"I-I'm alright Kyo. But who..."

Who even fell on him?

Korey looked up to find himself face-to-face with a Therian girl, who opened her eyes a second later, as her pupils shrink as soon as she found herself in the situation that she was in. Both of them yelped in surprise as soon as their eyes met with the other.

"Ack! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry sir, I d-didn't mean to bump into you, I'm sorry-" She exclaimed, quickly getting up and helping Korey stand up. She seemed to be apologizing a lot for just bumping into him...

"Whoa, whoa, calm down! I honestly should've been paying attention, it's more or less my fault that we both fell to the ground." Korey explained, hoping that would be enough to calm the Therian down.

The brown skinned Therian quickly skimmed over Korey's armor. "Are you hurt? Any injuries?" She sighed in relief when Korey told her that he was perfectly fine.

"I guess your fifty-fifty luck is starting, and we haven't even reached the first floor of Yggdrasil yet!" Kyo teased, causing Korey's cheeks to flare red for a few seconds. "S-Shut up, Kyo!"

Kyo couldn't help but laugh, leaving Korey to sigh in disbelief, before turning to the Therian who fell on him. "Still, that was a rather surprising fall. Were you in a rush or something?" He inquired, as the Therian's ears twitched and the girl turned her attention to the brown haired Fencer.

"Y-yeah, I g-guess you can say that. I-I was just hoping that-"

"There you are, sis! Sheez, could you wait for at least one second? It's hard enough for me and Beta to keep up with you..."

The woman was interrupted by another voice, as female Therian ran up to her, followed by a black wolf. It seems like the other girl had the same skin color as the Therian who fell on him, along with the same hair color. From what Korey could tell, those two could easily be identified as twins, as he noticed that the other Therian's eye color was the same.

"S-Sorry Demetria, I- uh... I couldn't help but be in a rush to hurry back to our room back at the inn that I tripped and fell..."

"Keiko... You may be a Masurao, but you're still clumsiness is still on par with how you rush things." The shorter Therian sighed before turning to face Korey and Kyo, and quickly bowed in apology. "I'm sorry about that... My sister couldn't contain her excitement to climb the World Tree lately, she's been tripping more times than I can count."

Korey chuckled a bit, as he scratched the back of his head. "I-It's fine. No one got severely injured in the end, so it's all good."

"I see..." The girl replied, seeming relieved. "I don't suppose you guys are gonna travel to the World Tree as well?"

"Yeah, we are. We just kinda... can't right now because..." Kyo responded, pointing to the line that Korey and Kyo encountered, as the Therian girls looked at where Kyo was pointing. It seems like the line got even longer than it was before. The taller Therian girl let out a whimper, as she looked at the ground, almost like she was in shame.

"Ohhh... there goes registering for a guild today." She groaned, as the shorter sister placed her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up. "Hey, don't worry. There's always tomorrow. We can try again then."

The taller sister nodded, and seemed like she wanted to say something when Korey interrupted her. "Pardon me for interrupting anything, but I forgot to introduce myself and my friend here. I'm Korey, and this is my best friend, Kyo." Korey announced, as Kyo smiled at the Therian girls, whose attention is back to Korey and Kyo.

"It's nice to meet you two." Kyo's face beamed, as Keiko seemed to smile in return.

"You too! U-Um... I'm Keiko, and this is my twin sis, Demetria. Oh, and that's Beta!" Keiko explained, pointing to the hound that was sitting next to Demetria. It seemed to look at Keiko when Keiko called for its name, wagging its tail in the process.

"Certainly nice names you two have." Korey commented. Keiko looked back to Korey and Kyo, seeming to be thinking about something. "Are you two in a guild, by any chance?" She inquired.

"No... at least, not yet. I'm going to be the leader of my own Guild, with Kyo joining me. I just need three more guildmates to find... I don't suppose you girls would be interested in joining?"

Keiko's face seem to beam at the thought of it, and turned to her smaller twin sister, who seemed to be in deep thought. "Can we join, Demi? Oh can we pleaaaaase join?!" She continued to ask Demetria, which caused a chuckle to rise from Korey.

It was like reliving his old memories, seeing his younger sister act much like how Keiko is right now... He wondered how she was doing right now. She had been in charge of keeping care of the house while Korey was gone, so he hoped she was doing fine.

"Can you be quiet for moment, Keiko? You're interrupting my concentration."

"S-sorry, sis..."

Demetria's sudden question must have brought Korey back to reality, as after a couple of more seconds later, she appears to have made a decision. "I can't understand why you would ask us out of the blue to join your guild, especially since we only just met... But, I'll keep that in mind. Is that acceptable?"

Korey nodded to the Therian's question. "Yeah, it's totally fine. I didn't come here and expect to get a full guild in one day... That's just way too much effort, especially after the trip me and Kyo had coming here."

"Ah, so you just recently arrived?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, about one or two hours ago, I believe. We had a few delays, but I'm just glad we didn't arrive at midnight..." Kyo responded.

"I see... Me and my sis have been here for only a few days, and we've been trying to come up with a guild name for days." Keiko continued, before letting Demetria add more to the conversation.

"We even tried to get some members to join us when we tried coming up with one of them, though they either just leave or don't even give us the chance to listen to why we want to join them."

"Ouch... I guess even here, there's people who are way too excited to climb the tree that nobody would listen to anyone on what they might say." Korey lamented.

"In a way, I guess it's to be expected... though I must ask, how many people did you ask overall?" The brown skin Celestrian asked, swiftly stealing the question out from Korey's mouth before he even got a chance to say it.

"We tried all kinds of people. I talked to Harbingers, Puglists, Necromancers, Botanists, and Demetria tried asking Shamans, Dragoons, and all the other classes of explorers that came through to Iorys. Though we've been keeping track and, uh..." Keiko started, but then whispers something to Demetria, who looked surprised at first, before taking out a piece of stacked paper.

"Well, take a look at this." Demetria spoke, handing Korey the paper in her hand. Korey and Kyo looked over it, occasionally flipping to the next sheet of paper. There were all kinds of names written on here, even names that he hadn't even heard of. When they got to the last page though...

"Two thousand people?!" Korey let out a surprised yell. Apparently all of the people on the list was counted separately, even when they were in a guild, and they apparently asked everyone in guilds that had three or five people, then devolved into asking guilds with only two people in them towards the end of the list.

"That's quite a lot of people... More than I'd reasonably talk to in a  _WEEK_!"Kyo added, as she handed the papers back to Demetria.

"Good lord, how  _long_  have you two been at this for?! I'd have given up around one hundred!" Korey inquired, perplexed at their determination.

"We've been at it every two or three days since we arrived in Iorys, actually. We even tried asking at the bar, but almost everybody there had no interest in having us, or they were already full on guildmates." Keiko responded.

"And despite all that, you kept trying?" Kyo was the next to ask a question, and this time, Demetria was the one to answer to it.

"In a way, yes and no. We wanted to do so this morning, but trying to find people we didn't ask on our list was getting difficult with each passing day, so sometime before we hit two thousand, we decided we were going to make our own guild if we did hit that mark. And thus, now that we've hit that mark, we gave up on asking people and we decided that we are going to make a guild on our own with our third member that we gained half-way through our list when we were fully prepared."

"Wait, so, you actually got someone to join you?" Keiko and Demetria both nodded in response to Korey's question.

"Yeah, she's currently at the inn. I think she joined around the three hundreds or seven hundreds, I don't recall the exact details..." Demetria sighed, shrugging the thought off.

"Oh well. If I do recall it per chance, I'll be sure to let you know. I'm sure she knows it more better than me or Keiko..." Demetria continued.

Seems like the third member Keiko and Demetria have is another girl... If Korey could get her to join along as well, then that's essentially a full guild right then and there. Keiko and Demetria's dream of being in a guild is essentially done in one fell swoop after all that they've worked for. Though to be on the safe side, he wanted to ask her if she wanted to join as well, just to make it fair for the three of them.

"I guess on that note, would you guys like to head to the inn with us? It's getting rather late..."

Keiko's question made Korey snap back to reality again, as he took note of the sky's orange hue. Had they really be conversing for so long that the sun started setting? "Huh, so it seems. Shall we tag along with Keiko and Demetria to the inn, Kyo?"

Kyo placed her hand to her chin, seeming to be thinking on the question, which thankfully, didn't take minutes to answer. "...I suppose we found everything we need to go to tomorrow. Let's not waste and time and head to the inn. My feet are fucking killing me..."

"Perfect! Then follow us to Jenetta's Inn!" Keiko spoke, but felt Demetria's hand on her shoulder before she could even take one step.

"And make sure you don't trip this time, Keiko. Don't want you to have any injuries before the day we enter the labyrinth. We're in no rush to get in there..." Demetria cautioned, as Keiko nodded in response.

"O-okay, sis. I'll be careful..." Keiko agreed, taking a few seconds to take some deep breaths before heading to the inn.

"Come on, Beta. Don't fall behind, now." Demetria called for her hound, as it perked its head toward's Demetria, and started following her, before Korey and Kyo followed shortly after.

"Aren't you excited Korey?" Korey looked at Kyo, who had asked him the question in particular. "On one hand, yeah... But at the same time, I'm nervous as to how this journey will go. No one knows what they're going to be facing in the labyrinth..."

He answered truthfully, as Kyo seemed content with his answer. "Fair enough... Guess we're in the same boat." Kyo responded, turning her focus back on the road ahead.

Anyone would be nervous to enter such a place... but who knows what kinds of mysterious will be found in there? And what kind of people will they meet along the way there?

The question only gets harder to answer as each day goes by. Right now, Korey is looking forward to meeting this third member that Keiko and Demetria picked up...


	3. A Hopeful Harbinger

The lounge of the most recommended inn was quite silent this afternoon, as one Earthlain girl was staring out through the window, apparently lost in her thoughts. Almost everyone in the inn has left to register for their guild, or left to travel to the labyrinth.

"Maybe sending Keiko and Demetria to try and register a guild for the three of us was a waste of time... We're not even at a  _full_  guild count." The white haired woman sighed.

"I don't get why most of the explorers are so damn full of themselves and want to simply explore Yggdrasil to become the 'greatest explorers' in all of Arcania. Every time I think of it, I keep thinking about him... Ugh!"

She slammed her hand against her head in annoyance, taking deep breaths after a while.

"No, calm yourself, Hilda... You're letting yourself get riled up again. I can't go on with letting my anger getting the best of me." Hilda uttered to herself.

 She then perks up when she hears footsteps approaching to see a green haired Therian in a maid outfit place a cup on the table.

"Sorry about the wait, my dear guest! It's been so long since I've made tea, so I wanted to make sure it was just perfect for you!"

"Ah, thanks Jenetta. I haven't had tea in days..."

Hilda raised the cup with care, taking in the aroma of the tea within, and took a sip of it. The taste felt smooth and flowery. It felt like forever since she drank tea similar to the one she had in her hand. She placed the cup back on the table, taking in the after taste.

"Hm? What is it? Is the tea bad? Did I mess it up?!"

"Oh no, the tea is great, Jenetta. I just can't get my mind of trying to find a guild that won't replace someone just because they hinder them... It's just so common I'm starting to wonder why I ever decided to become an explorer." Hilda replied, staring at her cup of tea as she conversed with the green haired Therian.

Sadly, that was a hard earned fact that even Jenetta has seen a couple of occasions. Right in her own inn, of all things. The sad faces, many frustrated and enraged at their previous guilds was quite sad to the usually care-free Therian. Jenetta did try her best to take care of them while they stayed at the inn until they got into guilds on their own, but on occasion, some of them gave up and left Iorys.

"It's hard to say... though I'm pretty sure sure you'll find one that will care for all of their guild members! After all, us Therians have a saying: 'Among the common ores, there's a hidden gem waiting to be discovered!' ...Or, was it found? E-Either way, I'm sure the other Therian guests will return with good news!"

Although Jenetta seems to mess up her own races' famous words, she did try to reassure Hilda to the best of her ability.

"I hope so, cause its getting rather late... The sooner we get into a guild, the faster I can-"

"Hilda, we're back!"

Keiko's cheery voice interrupted her train of thought, as Jenetta and Hilda turned their attention to Keiko and Demetria, along with an Earthlain Fencer and a Celestrian Warlock. Jenetta immediately ran to introduce herself to the new guests of her inn, while the twin Therians walked towards Hilda.

"Ah, more guests! Welcome! I'm Jenetta, and I run this inn! Please make yourselves comfortable!"

"Ah, thanks. We sure will." Hilda was only able to hear the female Celestrian, as she was focused on the news the Therians might have for them.

"So, were you able to get us registered?"

"We weren't able to get to there in time. There's a huge line coming from the guild building, so we had no choice but to come back..." Demetria was the one who replied, with a look of sheer annoyance on her face.

"I see... So, care to tell me why a Fencer and a Warlock came to the inn?" Hilda inquired, motioning to the duo Jenetta is talking to.

"Ah, those two! You see, those two recently arrived to Iorys in hopes of forming a guild, and I'm sure they'll be glad to have us in their guild!"

At first, Hilda was astonished. In all of the Therian's efforts, only two-thousand people denied their request, yet here she is, standing within the one thing she needed to be in.

She had hoped that her hope wasn't being toyed with.

"So Hilda, will this do for our guild?" Keiko questioned, seemingly waiting for an answer of her own.

"...Perhaps. Although my concern still stands. Pardon me for one second, I'm going to speak to that Fencer myself and see if I find his guild worth staying in." Hilda finally replied, after what seemed like months of silence.

"Okay then, we'll leave you to it... Me and Demetria have yet to decide for ourselves, so no pressure if you don't feel like it."

"You make it sound like I need to or I'll lose everything, Keiko." Hilda jested, as she started to get up from her chair.

"Hehe, sorry..."

Hilda then made her way over to the Earthlain Fencer, who was busy taking in the sights of the inn. Although this may be his first time being here, he's going to be visiting this place a lot when they were going to be traveling through the labyrinths.

"If you're gonna stand around and stare, you won't last a day in the labyrinth."

Startled, Korey turns his attention to Hilda, as the white haired woman stopped her movement the moment she was in conversation range.

"Sorry, I can't help it. If I see something good, I can't help but admire it." Korey admitted, quietly looking over the woman before him. Although Hilda's outfit was contrary to a maid outfit, it seemed to radiate an aura of its own. "I take it you're the one Keiko and Demetria mentioned?" He continued.

Hilda nodded without question. "I'm Hilda. I take it you're new to Iorys?"

"Yep. I assume anyone new coming here to explore the labyrinth would say the same thing."

"I see... Well, it's nice to meet you, um..."

Hilda realized mid-sentence that she didn't let the Fencer introduce himself.

"Korey."

Though it seemed to happen almost as if he was kind of expecting it, Korey stated his name to her so she could finish her sentence.

"It's nice to meet you, Korey. I hope you don't mind me asking you a couple of questions..."

"I don't see why not... Though if I may ask, why do you want to ask me questions?"

"It's... just a bit of a backup plan I had after I left my previous guild. Finding a good guild has been hard work these days, and if I can't find people who will accept me, then my hopes of climbing Yggdrasil are quite dim."

Seems like Hilda had been asking a few guilds on her own so that Demetria and Keiko weren't fully carrying the burden once they found her. He wasn't going to claim himself to be someone who needn't be questioned, but Korey decided it would be best to just answer to the best of his ability.

"I see... Then, ask away, I guess."

"Alright then. Is it safe to assume you came to Iorys because of Yggdrasil?"

Korey simply nodded at the answer, since he did want to become an explorer like his parents.

"Then are you sure you won't replace any of your guildmates just because they're injured or trying to look out for a member of the guild?"

Korey flinched in surprise upon hearing the question. He had to silently remember the question in order to even grasp what she meant by that. Though he couldn't help but wonder...

"Of course I wouldn't! Who in their right mind would do such a thing?!"

Korey's anger was understandable. Any newcomer to Iorys would struggle to understand, let alone, find themselves wanting to be in the situation that has been happening here ever since Yggdrasil's reopening.

"It's just that... There are many people who want nothing but to climb to the top, and prove that they're 'number one' and 'wanting their names to be in the history books'. Those kinds of people, will not give a second thought to your feelings when the kick your ass out the door and replace you with someone better than you. That includes my previous guild." Hilda began, her eyes darting to the ground when she started mentioning her previous guild.

"Your... previous guild? So you've been in the labyrinth before?"

Hilda nodded, as her yellow eyes stared back at Korey's blue eyes, continuing where she left off, albeit, in response to his question.

"Yes, I've been in the labyrinth before. But I was only able to get to the third floor, when an F.O.E came out of nowhere and tried to harm one of my guildmates. I jumped in the way to save him and ended up getting hurt... And then my guildleader just replaced me as soon as he found someone capable."

"Oh my god, that's just downright terrible!" Korey uttered, trying not to hurt Hilda's feelings despite not seeing the event somewhere in Iorys.

"It is, isn't it? Everybody but my guildleader in my previous guild seemed to praise me for my efforts of saving my guildmate... It's just heartbreaking and unfair to those who joined a guild in hopes of climbing Yggdrasil. But to me, it's even worse..."

Even worse? How can such a thing be even more heartbreaking than being replaced? Hilda's eyes seemed to hold back from letting tears pop out...

"Because I was dating my guildleader long before we entered the labyrinth. And... you can kinda understand what happened during that day I was replaced, right?"

Despite not having all the pieces of the puzzle, Korey could guess what happened during that day... And it wasn't pretty. Not something he'd like to see happen to anyone ever again. He placed his hand on Hilda's shoulder. Even when she was trying to hold back her tears, she looked right at Korey in confusion.

"Don't worry, Hilda. I'll be sure to cherish each of my guildmates, no matter what the labyrinth throws at us."

"Are you sure...?"

A small smirk came upon his face, almost as if he was attempting to put up a brave act.

"That's a promise I'm willing to die for if the thought ever comes across."

Yet his voice is clear and determined. Why was it so calming to her... She quickly glared at the ground again, trying to not make the situation feel weirder than it was, openly admitting things that happened to her to another stranger.

"Y-You don't have to go that far..."

"I know, but I really couldn't think of a better example..." Korey chuckled, scratching the back of his head, unsure why he had done what he said that. But that was something he was standing by, even if he had only mentioned it once.

"I see... My apologies for that tangent, I should get back to the question. We're on the last question, so..." Hilda sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing on.

"...What is the reason you want to climb Yggdrasil?"

Korey puts his hand on his chin and closed his eyes, which worried Hilda. Did she get her hopes up again just for them to be crushed? Then again, she wanted to ask this question, yet she was afraid of the answer she might be getting...

"...Well, here's the thing;" Korey began, taking a deep breath before continuing, silently recalling what he wanted to say before continuing on.

"Despite all the myths all of our races believe in, and explorers wanting to be number one or wanting their names in the history books, I'm not personally interested in proving the myths, or wanting to be the first to reach the top." Korey continued, as Hilda stared at him in surprise.

"You're not? I normally get people wanting to be the first to reach Yggdrasil's peak or to have their names in the history books, but... Why?"

"Why what?" Korey responded, confused on what Hilda meant by her wording.

"Why do you not have a reason? Are you intentionally toying with my expectations?!"

Korey sighed, as scratching his head as he nonchalantly replied.

"Hilda, what I said is the truth. I may be born from a family of adventurers, but I'm not  _that_  stubborn. I've been taught that if I wanted to be first at something, someone else has probably done it first. My mom taught me that sometimes, even if you don't have a destination, it's best to look toward the future with the guild-members that you have. Whether it'd be climbing Yggdrasil, or exploring a forest, a journey is nothing more than a journey that we see with our own eyes. In fact, that reasoning alone can explain why Kyo and I are here today...

"In short, I don't care about the myths, or being number one or being in the history books. If being in the history book happens, it happens, I won't care about it one bit. I'm just here to enjoy the journey with my future guildmates as we climb Yggdrasil. The journey is what matters to me, and if we discover something amazing, that's just an added bonus."

Korey lets out a sigh of relief as he finished talking. It felt like he was practicing a long speech to a single audience member.

"And that should cover everything I wanted to say. Got it memorized?"

Hilda blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to find a suitable response before averting her gaze away. "...Y-Yeah, I g-got it memorized." She finally replied.

"...But, will this guild be worth it?" Hilda couldn't help but hesitate to give him an answer. And to be fair

She felt Korey pat her shoulder as if to comfort her.

"I won't pressure you into joining my guild, Hilda. I'll give you a day or a week to think about it. I'm sure we'll make a great guild that even Iorys will be proud to have." Korey addressed, giving Hilda a small smirk.

"Are you two done talking over there? It's nearly nightfall, we should probably get to our rooms..." Demetria called, getting Hilda and Korey's attention, as Demetria was halfway up the stairs.

"Alright Demetria... Well, Korey, I'll think on your offer... Maybe even ask Demetria and Keiko for their opinion on the offer. I'll... see you later."

Hilda bows, almost apologetically, then grabs her cup of tea and follows Demetria up the stairs. Korey looks around, and sees Kyo conversing with Keiko, before staring at the ceiling.

"Replacing guildmembers... I sure hope we don't run into those types of people during our journey." He uttered to himself.

Demetria stops to look at Keiko, as Hilda reaches the top of the stairs and takes a sip from her tea.

"Keiko, come on already! Can't you be any slower?"

The Masurao looked up towards Demetria as the Rover spoke to her.

"S-Sorry sis, but I was wondering if we could take Korey and Kyo to our room for the night."

Hilda stops right in her tracks as Keiko finishes her sentence. And honestly, even Korey looked at Keiko in surprise.

"Keiko, what are you talking about? I'm sure they've got the currency to rent a room for themselves..."

"Hilda, we've got plenty of room to have at least two more people rest. Besides, we can't waste all of our money resting here all day... We still got a guild to make, after all!"

Demetria sighs, wishing she could go down the stairs and slap her sister if she wasn't extremely tired right now.

"Sis, don't push us into this situation any fur-"

"Let them."

Hilda intervened, not wanting the Therians to argue among themselves. She wasn't in the mood for it.

"H-Hilda, are you sure? What about-"

"I can assure you, having two more people won't be that harmful. Besides, we still need to think on our offer. You, Keiko and I can discuss this offer of Korey's in the morning. Got it?"

Demetria nodded and simply opened the room that the three of them were sharing. "Korey, Kyo, let me show you to our room." Keiko beamed, as she walks up the stairs, motioning Korey and Kyo to follow her. The trio enter the room, as Demetria was the last one to enter. Although the room was small, there were two beds which were likely king sized beds that took up half of the room on each side of the walls.

"So, uh... how is this going to work, exactly? It's not like the inn could suddenly sprout another two beds for us..." Korey asked, pondering how the setup for the night would go.

"Don't you worry Korey, I got the perfect idea!" Keiko chimed in, only for Demetria to sigh and roll her eyes. Beta was lying down on the floor, looking up at everyone for a few seconds before laying his head down back to the ground.

"Oh please, do tell us what this idea entails, sis... I'd be amazed to see you come up with something on your own for once." Korey couldn't tell if she was being overly dramatic or just being extremely sarcastic.

"Well..."

Without warning, Keiko takes Korey and shoves him over to Hilda's bed, surprising him and Hilda altogether.

"Gwah?!"

"Korey can sleep on Hilda's bed, and Kyo will sleep on our bed!" Keiko exclaimed, seeming rather oblivious to what she's doing in the long run.

"Wha-?! Keiko, are you being serious right now?!" The white haired Harbinger questioned.

"Of course I'm serious, Hilda! Would you want out invited guests to sleep on the hard floor or not?!"

"Y-You also know what you may be trying to imply by doing this to us?!"

Keiko's turned her head to the side, as if she was curiously looking at Korey.

"Maybe, maybe not..."

Demetria couldn't help but sigh and face-palm at the sight of what her sister was attempting to do.

"Oh my god Keiko... You're just gonna toss these people on our beds and expect us to share a bed? I was rather comfortable sharing a bed with you cause you're my sis, Keiko, but to add another to the mix is..." The Therian Rover let out a sigh, not bothering to finish her sentence.

"I-If it bothers you, we could just sleep at the ends of the beds... Is that alright?" Kyo suggested, which caused the girls to look at each other for a bit.

"...Yeah, that sounds good. But, we're only doing this once, mind you. When tomorrow arrives, we'll speak about having a bigger room." Hilda elaborated, having a rather serious tone to her voice.

"Alright, I understand. Do you understand, Ko- huh?!"

Upon Kyo's surprise, everyone turned to look at Korey, who was out of his armor and was in casual clothing, already at the end of the bed near the wall. Hilda was just as surprised as Kyo is.

"How did he...?!" Hilda tried to ask, until Demetria interrupted her.

"Wasn't he just RIGHT beside you a minute ago, Hilda?!"

"He was, sis, but... how'd he even-?"

Kyo's surprised face changed to a smirk. She had to admit something, at least... "His luck may be terrible, but he's quite the expert of getting ready to sleep in the blink of an eye."

"Can you shut up about my luck already, Kyo?!"

The brown haired Earthlain's response caused Kyo to laugh, to which Keiko laughs along once the punchline hit her. Beta just looks at Demetria, then back to Keiko before attempting to go to sleep.

"If you're done dawdling over there Keiko, we'd better prepare for tomorrow." Demetria ordered, after Keiko and Kyo's laugh diminished.

"Ohhhh, okay... Let me get changed real quick." The Masurao replied, as she goes into a separate room to change. Despite somehow ignoring his pressense at first, Hilda hesitates on going into bed before she mustered her courage, and hoped for the best as she took the sheets and lied her head on the pillow.

"I swear, Keiko comes up with the strangest ideas..." Hilda finally comments once she felt comfortable enough on the bed. Demetria sets aside her weaponry on a table, before walking towards the bed.

"Yeah, but even if I don't like being dragged along, I want to support her as much as I can. Even if it means dealing with her crazy ideas..." Demetria concurred, allowing Kyo to enter the bed first, before taking the middle spot on the bed. Although she couldn't help it, she looked over to Hilda.

"Are you sure you'll be fine over there, Hilda?"

Hilda nods at Demetria's question before responding. "It's just for one night, Demetria. We'll hopefully work things out from there. Perhaps things will be different... in this new guild..." 

Hilda let out a yawn mid-sentence, as she adjusted her pillow before lying her head back on it. Kyo turns her head towards Demetria and Hilda.

"Hmm... Well, I hope you'll join us. It'd be a shame for me and Korey's travel to Iorys be in vain." Kyo began, as Demetria turned to face Kyo, wanting to engage in a quick conversation.

"I can't imagine where or how you traveled from to get here, but Keiko and I traveled from the plains far across Iorys. Took us days than having to get there via transportation." Demetria whispered to Kyo.

"Damn, that's pretty far..."

"It is far from Iorys, after all. I only got dragged out here by my sister because that the ultimate techniques can be learned by reaching Yggdrasil's peak..."

Almost as if she sensed it, the Masurao came out in her casual clothing and immediately got in on the conversation.

"Hey, every Therian believes that myth and you know it, Demetria! Stop pretending like a myth like that doesn't exist!"

"And I personally believe nothing awaits us at the top, Keiko! Doesn't stop me from wanting to travel along with you so I can keep you safe!"

"Well, I-"

"Can you stop... arguing already? You're making... too much noise..." Hilda uttered loudly, getting Demetria and Keiko to be silent faster than a kid whose hand got caught in the cookie jar would be.

"S-Sorry, Hilda..." Keiko  whispered, as she climbed into the bed, and attempted to adjust to the bed, now that Kyo was sleeping on the same bed.

"Good night everyone! You too, Beta!"

Everyone said their good nights as the room finally became silent. Keiko pets Beta on the head a few times, before lying her head against the pillow. In the silence of the room, Korey pondered what tomorrow might bring.

He could only hope for the best outcome, despite the odds.


	4. A Guild full of light

"Are you sure you still want go through with this, Hilda?"

"For the last time, Keiko, I'm dead set on it. If Korey turns out to be a better leader than my previous one, what's the harm in trying again from the start?" Hilda addressed, not wanting to change her stance while the opportunity to join a guild is still open.

"I'm still irked at my previous guild leader, and just sitting here and doing nothing is NOT helping me calm down at all... I just want to get back into the labyrinth and show him that I'm not useless just because an FOE managed to injure me. I got nothing left to lose, anyway..." She continued, rubbing the side of her head to try and relieve herself of any headache's she could get from arguing.

"Sounds like you want to get revenge on your previous guild leader, Hilda... And I honestly don't like where this is going." Demetria sighed, getting rather annoyed with Hilda's attitude.

"Well, what else do you want me to do? Forgive him for replacing me and dumping me all of a sudden? It doesn't happen like that, Demetria... Nothing happens without a firm cause." The Harbinger clarified, before taking a seat and taking deep breaths.

God, how did this one meeting about joining a guild turn south real quick? And they were barely even done... Hilda's patience was strong, granted, but arguing about her previous guild leader was not going to get the conversation anywhere.

Ever since the conversation divulged from joining the guild to Demetria bringing up Hilda's previous guild leader, was doing nothing but wasting the time they needed to discuss it. The stares of passing explorers also didn't help matters, as some of them whispered to another about who knows what or how they viewed the little situation.

Keiko stood beside Hilda and attempted to calm her down. Demetria could only utter to herself, leaving Beta to poke his nose against her legs in an attempt to calm her down. She could only sigh and rub his fur, signaling to the canine that she would be alright.

A few minutes passed, and Demetria noticed the brown haired fencer coming down the stairs. He seemed to not have any trouble finding them, which Demetria silently thanked him for his arrival. "Good morning, girls. Hope I'm not interrupting anything..." Korey greeted, as Hilda and Keiko greeted him in return.

Though Kyo seemed to be missing.

"Hey, is Kyo still sleeping or something?" Demetria inquired, as Korey turned to face her. "No, she's awake. She just told me to go on ahead and talk to you girls, she usually takes her time doing her hair. Kinda happens all the time ever since I first met her..." He answered, as he took an empty seat and sat down.

"Feeling better, Hilda?" Keiko asked, as the white-haired Harbinger nodded, although this didn't go unnoticed by Korey, as he looked at Keiko to fill him in. The Therian swiftly responded, "Oh, Hilda and Demetria had a little argument earlier, and I was just helping Hilda calm down. She'll be fine."

"I see," he acknowledged, clearing his throat before continuing, "in that case, did you take my offer into consideration?"

"Yes, we kinda woke up early in the morning to discuss it," Hilda clarified, as she sat back in her seat, as her eyes focused on Korey. Guess that explains why he didn't see the three of them there when he woke up...

"And despite the short argument between me and Demetria, we've decided that the three of us will accompany you in your guild. However, I only know how to go through the first three floors..." She continued, seemingly trailing off when Korey seemed to get the message she was hinting at.

"That's understandable, Hilda. I didn't come here to find a guild who knew everything about Yggdrasil itself, after all." Korey couldn't help but chuckle to himself after finishing his sentence, causing Hilda to be confused about what he was laughing about, before storing that in her memory for another time.

"Honestly, I'm glad I asked you girls to join us. I would've been in quite a mess if I hadn't gotten three more members by today..." Korey addressed to the Therians, alongside Hilda, as he was slightly embarrassed at the thought of aimlessly panicking around Iorys...

"It's no problem, Korey! I'm just as excited as you are! Me and sis have been waiting for this very moment with baited breath!" Keiko commented, beaming brighter than the time they first ran into each other. In fact, in the corner of his eye, Korey saw Demetria smiling at her sister.

It almost reminded him of the day he decided to head to Iorys, and his sister smiled, praying for a safe journey. Guess family bonds were one thing that he wasn't going to find to be a rarity around these parts of Iorys. Before Korey could even speak, Keiko zoomed passed him and Hilda up to the stairs, vanishing from their viewpoint. Was she too excited, or...?

"She likely went to get out belongings. Don't worry about it." Demetria addressed, as Korey simply nodded in response.

"She might've had the right idea, to be fair. If we're gonna register this guild, we'll have to do it soon before it gets too full. I'll tell Kyo the good news, and we'll head to the Explorers Guild together. Does that sound like a plan?" The Fencer clarified, as Demetria and Hilda nodded in agreement.

"We'll be waiting for Keiko, then." Hilda added, as Korey got up and took the stairs up to their room. Although she was relieved to finally be in a guild once more, it was... rather worrisome that she would likely fail another guild before the year goes by. Perhaps it was too soon to be rejoicing in this soon-to-be formed guild...

"Are you worried, Hilda?" Demetria's voice caught Hilda's attention, as she placed her left hand onto her right arm. "Unfortunately, yes... I'm worried I'll screw up on this opportunity, and I'll really be back at square one, with nowhere to go this time." Hilda hesitated as she spoke, desperately trying not to recall that event in her mind...

It was rather painful to go through it once, it would be awful to go through it a second time... And she wasn't sure how well she'll do at making sure history won't repeat itself. Hilda looked towards Demetria, almost seemingly begging with her eyes. Someone whose last hope remained with this one opportunity... Demetria gave her a reassuring smile, placing her hand on the Harbinger's shoulder.

"You don't have to worry, Hilda. You have an entire new guild who is willing to support you. If anything's wrong, by all means, please tell us. We're in this together, and as long as we're around, we'll make sure we'll fix it together."

The words Demetria spoke out seem to ring with an alarming amount of truth... Hilda was too focused on the past to ponder if the same mistakes would occur again, and even Korey brought that into light when she first brought it up. It was something he would not want to repeat, and would even do all that he can do to prevent it from happening... or from something much worse.

If it was possible to meet with her old friends again, there will be a time where it will be crossed. But the time to think of the past is done... Hilda started grinning at her friend, feeling in a much better mood than she was before.

"You're right, Demetria. I'll... keep that in mind." She considered, hoping that she'll remember the Therian's words throughout her new journey through the World Tree.

Minutes passed, and once Korey, Keiko, and Kyo went back to the lobby, they departed for the Explorers Guild, arriving in a short amount of time. Upon their arrival, it was easy to tell that the long line the Therians, Korey, and Kyo witnessed last night, was drastically shorter.

"It seems the majority of those people in line actually manage to form their guilds last night." Demetria began, putting her hand to her chin, trying to rethink her sentence. Although Kyo was quick enough to enter the conversation at hand, "Either that, or they likely weren't able to get theirs made in time and they had to wait much like us."

No doubt that the possibility is there, but none of them could confirm it outright. "I just hope Egar didn't pull an all nighter..." Hilda sighed to herself, and headed straight towards the line, as the others soon followed.

As they entered the building, Korey noticed that despite some of the gray bricks appearing to be chipped or have cracks on them. His eyes then drifted over to the red carpet below his feet, seeing as it led to something akin to a large file cabinet, easily standing out from the gray and red with it's obsidian-like texture, and adorns several gold pieces of various shapes, complete with a dragon statue. If the inside was this wonderful, the labyrinth would surely surpass his expectations.

"Hey, focus Korey. We didn't come all this way to sightsee."

Hilda's voice ringed in Korey's ears, as he swiftly turned to see the white-haired girl with a stern look. "Honestly, if all you ever do when you step foot in some new location is sightsee, we may already have an issue." She continued, sighing in worry if this is going to be a common theme whenever they will set foot in the World Tree.

"I can't help it, Hilda. It's usually the first thing I do whenever I find somewhere new and exciting..." The fencer responded, as he quickly checked to see if the line was any shorter before continuing.

"Besides, I'm sure you did the same thing the first time you entered the labyrinth, didn't you?"

Another question that threw Hilda off for a change. She recalled exactly how happy she was when she first entered into the labyrinth, seemingly awing in amazement at the types of flora that grew within... Soon, a smile grew on Hilda's face, attempting to look away from Korey as if to hide it.

He let out a chuckle, despite Hilda's best efforts, before focusing on the waiting line in front of them. She honestly felt embarrassed, but she was surprised when he didn't start convincing her to spill it out. Perhaps he was taught to not be too nosy when it came to the little details?

"Next."

The familiar voice she knew all too well spoke, prompting Hilda to regain her composure, and walk forwards with the four people she was going to be in a guild with. Although his face was hard to see under the helmet, she knew she was the center of his attention.

"Ah, Hilda. Feeling better after the incident with your previous guild?" The man inquired, surprised that she would return despite her outcome.

Hilda took a couple of seconds to gather her words, looking at the armored man when she finally composed herself. "Not completely, but enough to settle on finding a new guild. I shouldn't focus too much on the past. I'm determined to move on, despite this setback."

It was honestly hard to grasp any emotions from the man while he had his helmet on, his voice spoke volumes in regards to this incident that had occur to others. "Well, it's great to see you in a much better condition than you were that fateful night. Many others feel your pain of being replaced, and not many recover from it, but I'm glad you're making it up by continuing on." He responded, attempting to assure the Harbinger, before turning his attention to the Fencer beside her.

"I take it you're the one who gave Hilda this opportunity?"

An opportunity? That's personally something Korey never consider that before, since he was hoping to have guild members to travel with and build memories alongside him and Kyo. Korey could only nod in response because he couldn't find any words to reply to what the man before him asked.

"I normally don't say this to newcomers that come to explore Yggdrasil, but thanks for giving her the chance to pick up where her previous guild left her." He thanked, leaving Hilda and Korey surprised, as the man prepared papers in front of him.

"T-Thanks, sir..." Korey hesitantly said, as the man looked at him. "Please, just call me Egar. That is my name, after all." Egar addressed, placing a piece of paper in front of Korey.

"Now, if you're going to explore Yggdrasil, you and your guild members will have to sign your name, along with your guild name. That includes you too, Hilda."

Korey takes the nearby feather and dips it in ink, then signs his name, along with the guild name. He passes the pen to Kyo and the others as they sign their name. When Hilda finishes her signature, she moves the paper towards Egar, who then takes the paper and looks over it.

"...Lux Guild, eh?" Egar questioned, turning his attention to Korey when he spoke up. "Yeah... I know it's not the fanciest thing in the world, but I came up with it yesterday when me and Kyo were on our way here."

Egar looked back to the paper, then nodded as he placed the paper aside. "I've seen names weirder than yours. But yours is but one of the rare guild names that actually has a meaning behind it. And I must admit, I like it."

Korey felt a smile grow on his face, looking back towards Kyo, as she greeted him with a beaming smile as well. Keiko was basically hugging Demetria, shouting that 'we did it' over and over again, which gained a chuckle out of Hilda as she witnessed Demetria attempting to get her sister off of her. Beta was even wagging his tail in excitement.

"That aside," the armored man began, as everyone turned to face him. "you can get more guild members than just the five you have, but know that you're only allowed up to thirty guild members. We only allow five members of a guild inside the labyrinth to ensure that there is no massive wipes from guilds who take more than five in a labyrinth. Got it?"

"Y-Yessir, I got it." Keiko replied, followed by Demetria and Kyo nodding in agreement. "Alright, we'll keep that in mind, Egar." Korey declared, as Egar hummed to himself.

"Great. I wish you good luck when your journey begins. Hilda, I'm sure you know where to go from here." The white haired girl nodded in understanding, and followed her fellow guild members, as Egar spoke up for the next upcoming guild that their turn was next.

They stopped just short of the entrance to the Explorer's Guild, when Korey turned to Hilda and asked her a question, "If I may be bold to ask, Hilda, are we allowed to fully explore Yggdrasil now that we're a guild?"

Hilda shook her head, and "Not quite. If people were easily able to go into Yggdrasil willy-nilly, it probably wouldn't be available for everyone after all these years... There's a mission that new guilds that have been formed must go through in order to prove they can handle whatever lies inside Yggdrasil. And in order to take it, we're going to visit the prince."

Keiko's eyes widened upon hearing that they were going to visit the prince, she ran right over to Hilda, surprising her and Korey when she spoke, "Oh my god Hilda, are we really going to meet him?! Are we, are we?!"

"Y-Yes, Keiko, we kinda have to in order to fully-" Hilda tried to respond, but the Masurao didn't allow her to finish speaking. "Oh my god, yessssssss, come on, come on, let's go go go! Lead the way, lead the way!" Keiko gushed, effortlessly grabbing Hilda's hand and started running towards the Council Hall.

Korey stood there, befuddled of what just happened. "Is your sister always this excited to meet royal people?" Kyo asked Demetria, who was face-palmed at her sister's sudden change of excitement. "Only when it comes to other races of royalty... Makes me wonder if she even learned anything growing up." Demetria addressed, as she signaled the Celestrian and Fencer to come along.

This was only the beginning of their journey... and who knows what they expect from the labyrinth. And it all began, like it was only yesterday...


	5. Meeting with the Earthlain Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been SOOOO behind on writing, and with Etrian Odyssey Nexus on the rise, I figured I should at least get back into writing to prepare for the ordeal that is the upcoming Nexus game. I also hope you don't mind me skipping over Syrik for a chapter, as despite mentioning him a few times, I'll be introducing him later.

_Korey, Kyo, and Demetria reach the Council Hall after Keiko is already looking around at the Hall’s interior decoration and slowly moving to the prince, while Hilda seems to be trying to catch her breath after being dragged by an overly excited Keiko. Upon hearing the trio approach her, she turns to face them._

"Yeaaah, I forgot to mention my sister really loves meeting royal people, Hilda. I think the hype finally got to her head… My apologies for not telling you that sooner." _Demetria explained to the exhausted Harbinger, as she stands up, flicking the sweat off her head._

"I’d still appreciate a warning, at least… felt like I ran a fucking marathon." _Hilda complained, approaching the trio as Kyo looked around in an attempt to find Keiko._ "I assume she went on in to meet the Prince, then?" _She asked, as the white haired girl nodded in response to Kyo's question._

"She’s been staring at the interior decoration for some time, and I guess she got tired of waiting and went on without waiting for all of you..." _Hilda sighed, as the brown haired Fencer started making his way into the Council Hall._ "Well, guess that concludes that question. Let’s not keep his Majesty waiting." _Korey addressed, as the four of them, without further incentive, entered the Hall._

_As the group proceeds without stopping, they hear Keiko conversing with Ramus, contrasting Demetria’s worry she was likely gonna stir trouble the moment they entered, though it might change soon._ "Hope we weren’t interrupting, Your Highness." _Korey announced, trying not to come off as rude. Ramus and Keiko turn to face Korey, as Keiko waves at the guild, though mostly at Demetria._

"Oh, no, you’re not. In fact, Keiko here was just about to go out and get you guys… But, seeing as you stand before me, I believe that saves us plenty of time." _Ramus addressed, looking at the guild standing before him, recognizing a familiar face._

"Ah, so you’ve brought Hilda as well?" _He inquired, as Keiko easily answered before Korey or Hilda could answer the question._ "Yep! Korey was pretty nice to offer the three of us a spot in his guild! Hehe~" _As she said that, she was kind of close to Ramus, and that could prove troublesome if the guards happened to witness it._

_Demetria sighs before walking up to Keiko and grabs her by her Therian ear, dragging her away from Ramus._ "If you can stop being in the Princes’ bubble space, the more relieved I will be!"

"Ow, owie, my ear, I’m sorry, I’m sorrrrrryyyyyyy..."

_Ramus chuckles a bit before looking at Korey._ "I trust you’re the leader of this guild, then?" _Korey nodded, and does a quick bow._ "The only leader the Lux Guild will ever need. My name is Korey, and to get straight to the point of why we're here, we would like to take the beginner’s mission, Your Highness."

_Ramus nodded, quickly understanding that the guild before him is new to Iorys._ "Ah, yes, the mission. The mission is simple- in order to prove your dedication to explore Yggdrasil, you’ll need a tree and mud sample from the first floor. And of course, mapping out the first floor is also part of this test. It’s better to be safe than lost." _The prince explained, to the guild, before turning to Hilda._

"Regrettably, you’ll have to retake it as well, Hilda. It may come off as unfair to have your new guild-members rely on you for everything, especially given the circumstance of your previous situation." Hilda let out an annoyed sigh, but quickly get's over her minor anger moment. "It’s alright, your Highness. I’m relieved to hear it, if anything." _Hilda acknowledged, thankful that she was not rushed to continue where she left off._

_It would've put her friends and her guild-members in danger, as they have no knowledge of the first three floors. Better to just roll with the flow and slowly make progress than rushing headstrong into danger. As Hilda continues her train of thought, Ramus grabs a few materials relating to map making, and hands it to Korey._

"You’ll use these to map out the first floor, and for most of the floors the Yggdrasil will have. Marking which areas are important, where things are, and what the floors are like will give us knowledge of what Yggdrasil contains." _Ramus begins, before heading back to grab something. Korey hands some of the materials he had to Keiko and Demetria, as Ramus gave Korey two books._

"What are these?" _Korey asked, as Hilda grabbed one of the books from him and quickly glanced at the title, and some of the pages within it._ "A Monster and Item Compendium. Not every explorer will recall exact details of a monster or item from their memory, so they are essential to remembering which enemies and items we'll find in Yggdrasil." _Hilda explained, as she glanced in Korey's direction._

"I can fill in some of these pages for us in advance, but you will all need to get some map training. Especially you, Korey." _She continued, as Korey gulped as Hilda's glance turned into a stare._ "Why do you make it sound like I'm gonna goof off while the others work?" _Korey questioned, as Hilda quickly dismissed his question before handing the book she had back to him._

_Kyo turned to Ramus and bowed, seeing as they are ready to leave._ "Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Prince Ramus. It was an honor to meet you." _Ramus simply gave the Celestrian Warlock a smile._ "It’s no big deal, really. Speaking with the explorers is what will help us all with the exploration of Yggdrasil, and hopefully, solve the mysteries that lie within it."

_As Korey and the other start to leave, they are quickly stopped by Ramus, seemingly forgetting to say something._ "Before you leave for Yggdrasil, I suggest you prepare yourself by going to Syrik’s shop. You’ll never know what Yggdrasil may bring, so I suggest going there before going to Yggdrasil." _Korey and the others nod at his advice, making their way out of the Council Hall and head to Syrik’s shop._

_Kyo recounts all the money they had brought with them with Korey, making sure that none of the explorers they pass by steal some of their money without them noticing._ "Three hundred is not much to buy us every equipment in the shop, Korey..." _Kyo spoke in concern, seeing as half of their money combined isn't enough to buy everything the shop may have to offer._

"Yeah, it might not… We’ll just have to be equally sparring with weapons and armor. It’s better worth trying to find a balance than risk damage over getting severely hurt." _Korey suggested, thinking on behalf of not only him or Kyo, but to the rest of his guild-members. It would be a tough balance to keep, considering the source of income may come purely from items contained within Yggdrasil._

"Hilda, is that you?"

_A familiar voice reaches Hilda's ears, as she stops and turns to face the familiar voice._

"Father…?" _She asked aloud, causing the others to stop and turn to Hilda, before noticing someone approaching them. The armor the man wore was enough to give Korey the idea that the man in question is of the Dragoon class. His black hair and beard could easily match with his black long coat from a glance. Hilda walks up to him as he knelt down to Hilda's height and the two embraced each other in to family hug._

"D’aaawww, that’s heart warming..." _Keiko sighed, beaming at the sight of (possibly) a parental figure._ "Demetria, is that guy Hilda’s father?" _Korey questioned, as Demetria took a few seconds to recall something that Hilda once told them before Korey and Kyo arrived._

"I'm not sure. She did say her father was a Dragoon, but we weren’t introduced to him in person…" _Demetria responded, as Hilda and the Dragoon separate from the hug, looking at each other as the man stood up from kneeling down._ "I see you’ve finally manage to find a guild." _He began, as a smile formed on his face simply from glancing at Hilda's own smile._

"Indeed I have, father. I'm finally going to be heading back into Yggdrasil again!" _Hilda grinned, clearly excited about the road ahead of her._ "Indeed you are, my lovely daughter." _He chuckled, as he approached Korey and the others, looking over the four of them as Hilda walked alongside him._

"So, who is the leader of this guild?"

"That’d be me, sir. I’m Korey." _Korey quickly answered, reaching his hand out in greeting. Despite the difference in height, the black haired man greets him back and shook Korey's hand in return._ "A fine name, lad. My name is Tyrone. Who might these girls be?" _Tyrone inquired._

_As if on cue, Keiko proceeded to introduce herself first._ "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tyrone. I’m Keiko, and this is my sister, Demetria!" _Keiko placed her hand on Demetria's shoulder, giving her the hint to introduce herself next._ "Nice to make your acquaintance, Tyrone. This here is Beta."

_Beta barks and wags his tail when Demetria called his name._ "And I’m Kyo. It's nice to meet you, Tyrone." _Kyo smiled, as Tyrone smiled back, letting go of Korey's hand._

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially you, Korey. You gave my daughter another chance where an ungrateful bastard left her." _Korey tilted his head in confusion._ "Uhhh, thanks? But who’s the ungrateful-"

"It’s best not to mention his name… It just irks me if it ever gets brought up." _Hilda cut him off before he could finish his sentence._ "But aren’t we likely to meet him in Yggdrasil, Hilda?" _Kyo asked, causing Hilda to think about her own words for a moment._

"...Yeah, you're right, Kyo. Guess that kind of makes it harder..." _Hilda sighed, gazing at the ground for a few seconds before Keiko decided to change the subject._ "So what brings you here, Mr. Tyrone?"

"Oh, I merely wanted to check up on my daughter. I’ve been meaning to visit sooner, but frequent trips to the labyrinth for materials caught me up recently…" _Tyrone explains as he places a hand on Hilda’s head and rubs through her hair, causing Hilda's cheeks to turn red._ "After all, she is the only thing I have to call a family."

"Daaaad, stop it, you’re embarrassing me..." _Hilda commented, trying to hide her blush from the others. The way Hilda spoke made Korey chuckle for a couple of seconds, before Tyrone lifted his hand from her hair._ "I’ll see you later, Hilda. I still need to finish some repairs on the house before I can show it to your friends."

"R-Right. Later, father." _Hilda acknowledged, as Tyrone soon headed out from the guilds' sight. Although Keiko kind of had a question that she wanted to ask him, she figured it'd be better if she asked Hilda about it._ "You had a house the entire time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because father has been working on it long before I came around. He’s just finishing up on some final touches on it." _Hilda admitted, turning to face Keiko and the others._ "Anyways, let’s make our preparations for the first floor. The sooner we get this done, the better."

_Hilda continued, looking towards Korey as if awaiting her next move._ "Right. Let’s go, everyone." _He finally spoke up, as they continued onward to the shop. Despite wasting a bit of time talking to Tyrone, they make it to the shop without any issues._

_Soon, the journey through Yggdrasil begins..._


	6. A Mysterious Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lux Guild begins to explore the labyrinth, only to find a mysterious item of sorts. When things turn for the worse that night, they turn to an experienced treasure hunting guild for help.

 

_The day was still bright, as the Lux Guild finally set foot in the first floor of the labyrinth. The soft, wet grass soaking against their feet- well, for Keiko, the grass merely felt like an obstacle. The sun's rays pierced through the leaves, hitting the floor with enough sunlight for explorers to venture through the floor._

"Whoa… this is… beautiful..."  _grinned Korey, as he looked around in awe._ "Ladies, and gentleman, this is the Yggdrasil’s first stratum: the Tutelary Forest."  _Hilda declared, as the other girls started to wonder a bit from the group._

"It’s so gorgeous… Out of all the forests I’ve been to, this one takes the cake."  _Kyo sighed, glancing toward Keiko as she knelt to place her hand in the water._

"Even the water here is pretty… Ooooooo~"  _the Therian cooed, making little ripples in the water._

"So, who’s going to do the mapping?"  _questioned Demetria._ "Well,"  _Hilda began._  "I won’t be in charge of mapping the floors after a certain point on the third floor, but I can teach you how to make maps, Demetria. We’re going to need someone with a sharp eye, and you proved that often back in Iorys."

"Alright,"  _Demetria nodded._  "I suppose learning never hurts…"  _Hilda takes out a piece of paper and places it in Demetria's hands, as she goes over how mapping works. The brown skinned Celestrian walks over to Korey._

"I’d never thought we’d see such a beautiful sight for the first floor…"  _she began, the fencer nodding in agreement._ "Neither did I, Kyo… Once we’re done with the mission, we can start climbing the Yggdrasil tree beyond the first floor."  _Korey hummed, noticing Keiko hopping around a bit before stopping next to Kyo and Korey._

"It’s going to be so much FUN!"  _she chirped, as the fencer couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement._  "You bet it will, Keiko. I guarantee it!"  _He beamed._

"Though, are you sure our current equipment will get us through this first floor?"  _Kyo inquired, seeing as everyone got new weapons to start off their journey through Yggdrasil._ "I’m positive, Kyo. We’re gonna need to get items from monsters in order for new weapons to be made, as Syrik said to us, it shouldn't be hard..."  _Korey reassured the Celestrian._  

"Though certain monsters have conditional drops… And I’ve heard that explorers had quite a hard time trying to get some of them."  _Keiko protested, as Korey placed a finger on his chin, almost reconsidering his previous sentence..._

"...Okay, maybe it  **WILL**  be harder than I thought."  _He admitted, as Keiko and Kyo laughed at his sudden take back of his sentence. Hilda and Demetria soon stood beside them._

"I’ve taught Demetria the basics of mapping, but for the time being, I will map out this floor and the second floor. After that, it’s completely new territory beyond one particular point on the third floor."  _Hilda declared, letting everyone else know why they had to wait for as long as they did._

"Got it. Everyone ready to go get this mission done?"  _Korey inquired, though needless to say, he already got his answer when they nodded at him._

_They start by marking off the left side of the beginning area, as Korey notices some fish around a certain part of the area._  "This spot seems like it’d be a good spot to get some fish…"  _Korey noted, as Keiko overheard the Fencer._

"It sure will. But we’d be here all day if we do…"  _Keiko disputed._

_Well, she's right about that. Depending on how good the fisher is, they'd either be here and gone in a few minutes, or just stuck here for hours._  "...Good point. Let’s just get back on track."  _He sighed, getting up to follow the others._

_After coming across a guard whose watching over some chickens, they continue onward. Even conquering a mud puddle, for one weird reason or another... Yet, despite their searching and mapping of the entire area, they've yet to encounter one monster._

"I’m staaaarving…"  _Keiko groaned. Kyo rolled her eyes,_  "Seriously, Keiko? We JUST ate right before we left to go see Prince Ramus, how could you be  _this_  hungry already?"  _She questioned._

"She can be like that, on occasion... something I don’t quite understand how it works."  _Demetria stated._  "Well, once we’re done here, we can get something to eat at the inn."  _Korey reassured the Therian, as she sighed, looking around a bit before noticing an acorn on the ground._

"Oooooh, an acorn…"  _she groaned, making her way over to it, with no one else paying attention to where she's going._  "That’s nice, Keiko, just don’t try to-"  _Hilda stopped herself, both in speech, and in movement. She made a sharp turn to face Keiko._

"Don’t eat that acorn, Keiko!"

"Huh? Why not?"  _As Keiko turned to face Hilda, the Therian was blissfully unaware of the acorn breaking free, gaining eyes and feet, before jumping and hitting Keiko on the head._  "Owww!"  _She yelled, getting knocked to the ground as the Acorn attempted to tackle her head multiple times._

_Everyone else's attention turned to Keiko when she heard her yell in pain._  "Keiko!"  _Korey gasped, bringing out his weapon as he swiftly went to Keiko's side. Demetria pulled Keiko away from the sentient acorn and helps her up._

"You bloody idiot! Why did you think it was just going to be food for you?!"  _Demetria shouted, as the other Therian weakly reached for the Acorn._ "It looked so innocent, I just wanted to eaaaat it…"  _She replied._

"That’s a Rabid Acorn, Keiko."  _Hilda began, placing the map away._  "Alone, or with groups similar to it, it poses little to no threat, but when grouped with two other creatures, these guys can become a problem real quick."  _she explained. Korey quickly realizes she did not draw her weapon._

"Aren’t you going to help us fight it?"  _he asked._  "And end the fight like that? I already have some experience fighting against these creatures, you know... because..."  _Hilda looked away from Korey, the fencer recalling what she meant._

"Oooooh, right, right, I getcha…"  _He uttered, before focusing his attention back to the Rabid Acorn before him._  "Kyo, let’s show it how its done!"  _The purple haired Celestrian nodded in return._

"Got it."  _Kyo hummed, taking out her staff as it emitted a purple light, before turning red like a raging fire._  "Taste Fireball, sucker!"

_She points at the Rabid Acorn, as the energy condenses together at the end of the purple light, forming a literal fireball, launching it at the Acorn as it falls backwards from being hit. Beta hears a bush shake, growling as another Rabid Acorn shows up to assist in the fight, making its way right for Kyo._ "More company. Go get ‘em, Beta!"  _Demetria ordered, shooting an arrow at the Acorn to get its attention._

_Upon being hit, the Acorn turned to the source of the attack, only to be greeted by Beta's sharp claws in its face, launching it back._  "How about this?! Optic Thrust!" _Korey yelled, swiftly running to the launched Rabid Acorn and cuts through it, as its now split corpse falls to the ground, as the other Acorn finally managed to get up._

_Keiko starts growling._  "Why you’ll… you’ll pay for this, Mr. Innocent Acorn!"  _She screamed, charging right for the Rabid Acorn._

_The poor thing didn't even see it coming. Before it did anything else, Keiko went in, swords swinging like a madman, and just cutting the Rabid Acorn to shreds. And it kept going for a while._

"I think it’s dead, Keiko."  _Korey said, befuddled by Keiko's constant swinging._  "Keiko, I think that’s enough…"  _Hilda tried, but still no sign of the Therian stopping anytime soon. They turned to Demetria, who sighs before taking a deep breath._

"Keiko! That’s enough!"  _She yelled, getting the Masurao to stop swinging wildly._ "Wha-?!"  _Keiko blinked, looking where the Rabid Acorn once stood._

_It literally turned into mere powders of what remained of it. Freaking brutal, yet surprising, coming from somebody who called an Acorn, 'Mr. Innocent Acorn'._ "O-Oh… d-did I just do that?"  _She asked, looking at the others when she did._

"Yes... Yes you did."  _Korey confirmed, before a sudden snarl made everyone on high alert._  "Seems like we’ve attracted something..."  _He uttered, as Hilda blinked in surprise._

"Huh… here I thought we wouldn’t see them this early into the first floor."  _She spoke to herself._ "See what, Hilda?"  _Keiko inquired, curious as to what she was talking about._

"...A Wild Dog."  _She began. As if the timing couldn't be excellent, a giant red hound-like creature rushed out of the bushes, charging right towards the Harbinger._

"Hilda, watch out!"  _Korey warned just in the nick of time. She swung her scythe at the dog, causing it to stop then and there, leaping backwards to the others._

"Thanks for the warning. I've heard that their bites can hurt quite a lot. I suggest you be cautious and not stand too close to it."  _She thanked Korey, before warning everyone of its bite._

"Understood! Take this!"  _Demetria shot an arrow at the Wild Dog, as Beta shortly followed suit, scratching the enemy before backing away before it could strike back._

_Kyo’s staff soon starts emitting a light blue glow where the purple light once remained._  "Icicle Lance!"  _Kyo raised her staff into the air, before pointing at the enemy, as a few icicles launched from the lance. The Wild Dog flinched every time the icicles hit it._

_Hilda couldn't help but whistle in surprise, looking at the Warlock with a smile on her face._  "Impressive... I never thought you knew the weakness of a Wild Dog this quick."  _She complimented, as the purple haired Warlock blushed a little bit._

"Heheh, I may have guessed that on my own but... T-Thanks for the compliment. "  _Kyo admitted, trying to hide her blush as Korey rushed in for the final blow on the enemy._

"Hiyaaah!"  _Korey yelled, slashing his sword at the Wild Dog, as it let out one last whimper before it falls, no longer breathing. Korey takes out his weapon, and cleans the sword of the blood on it, as everyone started to calm down from the battle that occurred._

"That takes care of that… And we didn’t even have to suffer more severe injuries."  _Korey took a deep breath, sheathing his weapon as everyone else started to sheathe their weapons too._

"That’s a start."  _Hilda nodded, before turning to Keiko, who was rubbing her head where the Rabid Acorn hit her. She notices Hilda, and looks to face her._

"Although I can only advise you- more specifically, to everyone: there will be points in the labyrinth where we can get food. But whatever you do, do not go trusting suspicious food, like the Rabid Acorn. If more Wild Dogs were around, that would’ve been quite disastrous…"  _Hilda explained, as the Therian gazed at the ground for a few seconds._

"I’m sorry, Hilda… I’ll try and heed your advice."  _Keiko apologized, feeling the Harbinger's hand pat her shoulder._  "Apology accepted, Keiko."  _she beamed._

"It’s a learning experience for all of you, and I’m only telling you what I know so that you all can survive the labyrinth. Cause while it is pretty, we’re not even close to starting on our journey. To die here this early is, shall we say, a kick to the face..."  _She continued, getting the map she previously stowed away back out._

"But now that the monsters are gone, we can proceed back on track."  _Demetria beamed, getting up from petting her hound._ "Right… The sooner we get the samples and the map complete, the better."  _Korey concluded, leading the guild away from the area the battle occurred._

_After walking around for a few minutes, they spot the huge tree they had seen earlier from the entrance of the stratum._  "This must be the tree where we get a branch sample, right?"  _Korey asked._

"Indeed. There should be one that’s close enough for us to reach it..."  _Hilda noted, as Demetria points to the nearest one._

"There's one. Keiko, can you reach it?"  _Demetria queried, as Keiko stood under the branch and grabbed the branch, snapping it at the end portion._  "Got it!"  _Keiko exclaimed, as Kyo chuckled to herself._

"Talk about cheating with height..."  _Kyo grinned, as Korey scratched his head._  "Well, she does have those shoes that make her seem more taller than one would expect."  _He explained, leaving the Celestrian to shrug._

_Demetria walks over to Keiko, before her eyes glanced at something in the water. The Harbinger noticed and walked up to her._ "What’s up, Demetria?"

_Demetria turned to look at Hilda._  "There’s something down where Keiko pulled the branch sample, but I’m not sure what it is..." _She replied, pointing to where she saw the item. Korey bent down and placed his bag down beside him._

"Allow me to try and get it."  _Korey hummed, reaching in the water. It took some time to get an actual grip on it, but he soon gets it out of the water, washing some of the dirt on it revealing the item to be a box of sorts. It was decorated rather fashionably, jewels and gems placed all around it._

"Whoooaaa…"  _Kyo gasped, looking at the box from afar._  "That's soooo cooool!"  _Keiko squealed, as Demetria knelt to her knees to gaze at it._

"It’s so beautiful..."  _Demetria chirped, shocked at the sheer beauty of the decorated box before them._

"Is that a jewelry box?"  _Hilda inquired, as Korey looked at it from multiple angles to be sure._ "Seems like it. But who would leave it here on the first floor?"  _Korey wondered._

"I'm not sure who, since nobody seems to be around to confirm its theirs..."  _Kyo also wondered._ "Can you try opening it?"  _Keiko inquired, thinking there might be some way to open it._

_Korey attempts to slip his fingers through the line and break it open, but after trying a few times, nothing seems to come to fruition._ "Can’t get it to open..."  _He admitted, the box quickly vanishing from his vision._

"Let me try..."  _Demetria spoke, as she tried bashing it against the ground, hoping it would eventually give in._  "Don't do that, sis! What if the thing inside that box is fragile?!" _Keiko exclaimed, as Demetria stopped in her tracks._

_She did have a point. It's a box. It's most likely containing something within it. Demetria dusted off the dirt on it and sighed in defeat, handing it back to Korey._

"Are you sure it’s not magically guarded?"  _questioned Hilda._  "I can’t be sure. Even if I happen to know what it is, getting it off might take some time..." _Kyo spoke up after trying to detect its mana. She probably wasn't proficient enough to detect what kind it is._

"Oh well. Might as well take it with us and see if we can find any means of opening it..."  _Korey shrugged, placing the jewelry box in the bag and started to stand up._ "I suppose it can’t hurt to take it along, seeing as that didn’t happen before on my first visit…"  _Hilda agreed._

"So all that’s left is the dirt sample, right?"  _Keiko commented, as the white haired girl nodded in return._  "Right. The map segment Ramus required to be drawn is already done, so the sample of dirt is all that remains."  _She explained, letting Korey take the lead once more._

_It didn't take them long to find the spot in question. The ground had a different texture compared to the floor they've been walking on this whole time. Kyo grabs a sample, slipping it into a plastic bag that Korey had brought in his bag._

"Done and done~"  _Kyo beamed, giving the sample to Korey to place in the bag._ "Well, that about does it for the mission, I must say."  _Demetria hummed, glad the mission is over with without any major issues._

"Indeed. Everyone did a fantastic job."  _Korey grinned, giving everyone a smile, which caused a few of them to smile as well._

"The second floor onward won’t be this easy, Korey. We must exercise caution at all times."  _Hilda reassured him, recalling the words she said earlier from their battle with the Wild Dog and Rabid Acorn._

"Right. Anyways, let’s report to Prince Ramus."  _Korey concluded, after looking up at the sky to see what time it was. They made their way back to the entrance of the Tutelary Forest, and walked back to Iorys, making it back around sunset._

_Prince Ramus was reading a book that intrigued him, before he noticed the Lux Guild approaching him. He placed the book down as he stood up and walked over to the approaching guild._

"I see you've returned. Did you get the samples, along with completing what I outlined on the map?"  _Ramus inquired._

"We sure did!"  _Keiko replied, handing him the samples, and Hilda showed off the map to him._ "Ah, marvelous work. Marvelous work indeed."  _He hummed, handing the samples of the dirt and branch to the guard next to him._

_Korey placed a finger on his chin, seeming to be in deep thought for a moment before looking at the Earthlain prince._  "So, why make us go through the labyrinth to get a sample of wood and dirt?"  _he inquired._

"It’s to make sure that the explorers are worthy of traveling through Yggdrasil. And you all passed with flying colors."  _Ramus explained._  "Exploration of the Yggdrasil is now open to you, members of the Lux Guild."

_Needless to say, Keiko, Demetria, and Kyo both cheered in joy, as Hilda and Korey grew smiles on their faces._  "Oooooh, it feels like I’m dreaming…"  _Keiko sighed, placing her hands next to her cheeks._

"Seeing the prince again, or the fact we’re finally exploring Yggdrasil?"  _Demetria inquired, confused by what Keiko meant._ "Prooobably both~"  _Keiko replied, leaving her twin sister to sigh and shake her head._

"Now that you’re able to explore the labyrinth, you can now buy an important item known as the Ariadine Thread."  _Ramus began._  "They’re helpful since they return you to Iorys in a matter of seconds. Just show this card to Syrik and he’ll sell you them."  _he continued, picking up a card and hands it to Korey._

"I see. I guess it can't hurt to get at least one or two of these Ariadine Threads before we head back into the labyrinth."  _Korey noted, placing the card in his bag._

"You’re also now able to handle the quests at the tavern. We only allow certified guilds to tackle the quests that are posted there."  _Ramus added._

"Probably for a good reason, I assume?"  _Kyo queried, as the Earthlain Prince nodded in response._

"Anyways, we should head back to the inn, night’s about to fall."  _Hilda declared, as everyone took note of the sky's color slowly changing._ "Good idea…"  _Demetria concurred._

"I hope you rest well tonight."  _Ramus hummed, waving good-bye to the guild before him._  "We will, your Highness."  _Korey waved back, before catching up with the others._

_As they arrive back in Jenetta's Inn, the green haired Therian hoped over to them as soon as they entered, wondering how the exploration mission went. Hilda and the others took turns on explaining how it went, and that they made it with not problems whatsoever._ "That’s wonderful! Soon, you’ll begin climbing the Yggdrasil for real!"  _Jenetta hummed, clapping her hands in joy._

"Yeah, everyone’s excited to get started. It only feels like yesterday that we started out recruiting three guild members..."  _Kyo chuckled, already feeling like they've accomplished so much._

"It sure feels like it, Kyo."  _Korey agreed, as he lets out a yawn, before placing some money in front of Jenetta._ "Anyways, we need a room to rest, Jenetta."  _He groaned, trying to stay awake._

"Ah yes, your room. Let me show you to your room for tonight~"  _Jenetta graciously accepted the money, before skipping to the stairs, motioning for the guild to follow her. She stops at the third door on the second floor, opening the door for them._

"If you need anything, feel free to let me know!"  _Jenetta added, as Korey, Keiko, and Demetria passed by her._  "Got it, Jenetta."  _Hilda noted, before closing the door after Kyo came in. Korey opened the curtains to reveal the gorgeous night sky..._

"Well, this room is more bigger than the other room..."  _Kyo commented._  "Still got two beds though."  _Keiko sighed, not liking the idea of having to deal with two beds. They were close to having more beds, but not in the way she expected it to be._

"I guess she just expects us to be all comfortable with each other, or something."  _Demetria shrugged, unable to find the right words to call Jenetta's attempt of 'group bonding'._ "But there’s only one man in our entire guild. Here I thought a guild full of girls would tickle his fancy, or something."  _Hilda disputed._

_Keiko couldn't help but snicker at what Hilda said earlier._  "That’s something I certainly never thought you’d say..."  _She began, seeing the Harbinger's cheeks turn red and attempted to hide her face from the other girls._

"Argh, Keiko, why’d you have to point that out?!"  _Hilda groaned, as Keiko chuckled to herself. Korey sat on the bed and took out the jewelry box from the bag, gleaming at it in wonder._

"Just what are we going to do with this thing? We can’t take it around the labyrinth with is, it’ll just be dead weight."  _He asked, as Kyo placed a finger on her chin._

"I don't know. We just don't have the right means of opening it somehow..."  _Kyo uttered, feeling like they were getting nowhere with this subject matter._

"Either way, we might as well prepare to for bed. Come on, girls."  _Demetria sighed, motioning for the girls to follow her, following closely behind her._

_As Korey stands up to place the box down, he is startled by the sound of the window crashing behind him, quickly turning to face the source of the crash._  "What the-?!"  _he yelled, as the girls swiftly turned to face the same noise he heard._

_In front of the window was a Therian. From his garb, he appeared to be a Masurao, with black hair and light brown skin._ "Excuse me sir, this room doesn’t belong to you!"  _Demetria exclaimed, as the Therian stands up from crashing through the window._

_His purple eyes darted to the Fencer, who had a tight grip on the jewelry box._  "Jewelry box... must obtain!"  _The man yelled, charging right at Korey, swinging his fist at him. Korey dodges the first swing, before he gets picked up by the Therian and thrown against the wall on the other side of the room._

"Agh!" _Korey screamed in pain, falling onto the bed below him._  "Korey!"  _Hilda yelled, grabbing her scythe as Kyo activated her staff._

"That’s my friend, you bastard!"  _The Celestrian exclaimed, starting to cast a spell, as her staff's purple light soon changed to a golden yellow._ "Feel the Lightning!"  _Kyo screamed, as lightning bolts emerged from her staff, striking the Therian and getting his attention before he could get any closer to Korey._

_Hilda made her move, charging right at the Therian, as her scythe is soon enveloped in electric miasma._ "Paralyzing Reap!"  _Hilda slashed at his chest, causing him to flinch back, taking a few steps back as he covers his chest, blood soon staining his hands._

"Why you... pesky Harbinger!"  _The man snarled, attempting to move closer to Hilda, who backed away from him._  "Air Blade!"  _Keiko hollered, slashing at the Therian so fast that it created a physical form of air, making direct contact with the Therian Pugilist._

_Beta jumps and attempts to bite the Pugilist, but the man punches Beta away before he gets an arrow to his left arm._  "Graaah!" _he yelled in pain, clutching his shoulder._

"It’s over, you intruder! You can’t outmatch us!"  _Demetria exclaimed, as the man looked around to see himself cornered and surrounded. He clenches his fists in anger._

"You keep shiny jewelry box for now... But next meeting, won’t be so lucky!"  _the man grabbed an item from his pocket, and tossed it to the ground, as smoke appeared from where he stood, causing everyone to cough at the sudden surprise._

When the smoke vanishes, the Therian is gone, but the window is still destroyed.

"What the hell was that about... That was just rude to bust into our room and try and steal our prized jewelry box!"  _Keiko growled, placing her sword away now that the threat had been cleared._

"I have no idea, Keiko..."  _Demetria sighed, as she tended to Beta to make sure he was alright. Hilda climbed onto the bed and turned Korey over, who still had the box close to him._

"Are you alright, Korey?"  _Hilda asked, as Korey attempted to sit up._ "I-I’m fine... But why the sudden concern over me all of a sudden?"  _He inquired, feeling a little confused._

_Hilda's cheeks turned red, as she tried to avoid eye contact with him._  "I-It’s just because you’re our guild leader! We wouldn’t want you dying to a Therian Pugilist of all things, that’s all!"  _She exclaimed, concluding the discussion rather fast._

"My dear guests, what’s with all the ruckus going on up here?"  _Jenetta's voice asked from the other side of the door. Demetria gets up from petting her hound and opened the door to speak with Jenetta._

"Listen,"  _the dark skinned Therian began._  "as strange as it is to say this, some Pugilist decided to bust through the window and started to attack us over a jewelry box we found in the first floor of the Tutelary Forest."  _Demetria explained._

"Oh my... no wonder I heard a window crash earlier!"  _Jenetta gasped upon seeing the proof of the window crash._ "I don’t want to risk it happening again while we’re asleep so… mind taking us to another room?"  _Demetria asked._

_The green haired Therian nodded._  "Why, of course! I just have to make sure I have someone repair that window tomorrow. Right this way, my beloved guests!"  _She motioned, as everyone grabbed their belongings and followed behind the innkeeper._

_Thankfully the room she picked was father from the scene of the attack. Keiko and the others didn't mind if it was similar to the room they were in earlier, they just decided to get to sleep as soon as possible. When morning arrived, the sound of knocking on the door soon rouses Korey from his sleep._

"Ugh... who could it be this time?"  _Korey sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eye. The same knocking sound occurs again, causing Hilda to groan in annoyance._

"Do you think it’s Jenetta trying to tell us that it’s morning?"  _Hilda asked, as Korey was unaware if that was the case._  "Let’s go check, just to be sure..."  _He uttered, as the two got out of bed and made their way to the door. When Korey opened the door, he was- for lack of a better word, surprised at who stood before them._

_Some guy with a dark red coat, red hair, blue eyes, and light brown skin lowered his hand and looked at the two people who were looking at him._  "Terribly sorry for disturbing you at this hour, but is this the room where the Lux Guild is residing in?"  _He asked, seeming a little bit lost._

"Y-Yes... that would be us."  _Korey stammered, as he let out a yawn and stretched his arms._ "Who are you, anyway?"  _Hilda asked, having never seen the man before._

"Oh, terribly sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. The name’s Drayce, leader of the Angelward Guild."  _Drayce introduced himself, extending a hand as if in greeting._

"Drayce, huh… I’m Korey, leader of the Lux Guild."  _Korey uttered, before introducing himself and shook Drayce's hand._ "And I’m Hilda."  _Hilda disclosed her name, shaking Drayce's hand after Korey withdrew his hand._

"Pleasure to meet you two. Do you mind if I discuss something to your guild in the lobby about something?"  _Drayce asked, as Korey tilted his head, seeming a little slow on the uptake._

"About what?"  _He asked, just so he can get a refresher going on in his head._

"About the attack that happened last night. I heard there was a fight here and I wish to know the details of what happened."  _The red haired man explained._

_Korey and Hilda stare at each other for a couple of seconds, before glancing back at Drayce._ "Sure, just allow us a few minutes to get dressed and wake up our other guild members."  _Korey agreed, seeing a smile bloom on Drayce's face._

"Got it. See you in a little bit."  _He said, making his way down to the lobby as Korey closed the door, before turning to face the other girls._

"Rise and shine, girls! I repeat, rise and shine!" Korey announced, eventually getting the girls to stir from their sleep.

"Is it... morning already?"  _Kyo asked, rubbing her eye as she sat up._ "Yeah, it’s morning, Kyo. Better get dressed right away."  _Korey instructed, going off to get dressed himself._

"Why’s that?"  _Keiko inquired._  "Somebody wishes to discuss with us about the attack that happened last night."  _Hilda explained, as she starts getting dressed._

"At this time of day...?"  _Demetria groaned, questioning why someone would speak with them this early._ "Better now than never, Demetria."  _Hilda urged, not wanting to argue with the Therian in the morning._

"Alright, Hilda..."  _Demetria sighed, getting up to let the other girls get dressed. After everyone is dressed, they take their possessions, items, and weapons, making their way down to the lobby. Korey notices Drayce waving at them, and approached him._

"Sorry if we kept you waiting."  _Korey chuckled, taking a seat in front of Drayce, as Hilda took the seat next to Korey._ "It’s fine, Korey, I'm in no rush."  _Drayce replied._

"Who’s this guy, Korey? Is he a friend of yours?"  _Keiko inquired._

"Heh, I wish I knew him. Only met him a few minutes ago."  _Korey chuckled in response to Keiko's question._

"The name’s Drayce, guild leader of the Angelward Guild."  _Drayce introduced himself to the other guild members._ "Interesting name... I’m Demetria, and this is my twin sister, Keiko."  _Demetria motioned to the 'taller' Therian beside her._

"Pleased to meetcha, Mr. Drayce!"  _Keiko hummed._  "My name’s Kyo. It's certainly is nice to meet you, Drayce."  _Kyo spoke, smiling at the Dragoon before her._

"The pleasure’s all mine. Please, take a seat."  _Drayce motioned to the other chairs, as Kyo, Keiko, and Demetria sit down on the empty chairs._

"Now then,"  _the red haired man began._  "from what I understood, somebody came into one of the rooms in this very inn and attacked someone from this guild in particular. Am I right?" 

_Everyone nodded in response._  "Yes, that’s correct. Although the attacker went straight towards me, he seemed to be after this thing..."  _Korey began, taking out the jewelry box in question and placed it on the table._

"A jewelry box?"  _Drayce pondered._  "Tell me; where did you find that?"  _he asked, wanting to know where they found it._

"We found it on the first floor of the Tutelary Forest. We didn’t know why it was there, and we certainly can’t open it, no matter how hard we tried..."  _Hilda explained to Drayce._

"I see..."  _Drayce placed a finger on his chin._  "I guess if you can't open it, there's no way of knowing what's inside."  _He muttered to himself._

"I don't quite get it though,"  _Demetria wondered, looking at Drayce as she continued on._  "the man that attacked us was Therian, yet he fought like a Pugilist. Do you have any idea why that's the case?"  _She continued, hoping the Dragoon would have an answer._

"As far as I know, since explorers are working together to get through Yggdrasil, the government allowed for every race to learn the skills of a particular class."  _Drayce explained, placing his hand down part way through his explanation._ "If a Therian can become a Pugilist, they can, much like an Celestrian can become a Botanist."  _He added._

_Drayce turned his attention back to the jewelry box._  "Still, why would someone target a jewelry box of all things?"  _He questioned._

_Korey shrugged in response, having no idea why the Therian Pugilist went for the box._  "Beats me. For all we know, something of value is inside, we just need to know how to open it."  _He sighed, glaring at the jewelry box._

"Then allow me and my guild to assist you."  _Drayce began._  "You see, unlike other guilds, we’re not interested in exploring the Yggdrasil."

_Hilda looked at him in surprise._  "You're not? Then, why do you go to Yggdrasil for?"  _She asked, wanting to know more about Drayce's guild._

"We’re more interested in the treasures and myths the Yggdrasil contains, Hilda. I believe this jewelry box may be something worth your while."  _Drayce continued, explaining his answer to the white haired Harbinger._

"I see... well, all of us are quite intrigued on what may be in the box." _Hilda glanced at the jewelry box._ "Korey, what do you think? You’re our leader, after all."  _Demetria asked, as everyone turned to face him, waiting for an answer._

_Korey let out a deep sigh._  "As much as I want to leave this to a professional, I can't say I'm intrigued by whatever may be in this box. And even if that Therian Pugilist comes back, we'll have more in numbers than he might have..."  _Korey mumbled to himself, before shaking his head to rid himself of the thought, looking at Drayce with confidence in his eyes._

"We'll be glad to have you assist us, Drayce."  _Korey declared. Drayce's smile made itself apparent once again._  "Thank you, Korey."  _He thanked._

"So, where do we start?"  _Kyo inquired._  "Let's start by heading to my guild house. Follow me."  _Drayce began, getting up from his chair and pushed it in, motioning for Korey and the others to follow him._

_Korey grabs the jewelry box, and starts following Drayce, with the four girls following close behind him, heading out of the inn as Drayce stands next to a caravan._  "We'll be going to the Crescentia via caravan. It’s easier than walking all the way there."  _Drayce continued once everyone was close enough to hear him._

"Crescentia?"  _Korey questioned._  "That's the name of the guild house I inherited. Great name, isn't it?"  _Drayce quickly explained._

"It sounds cool!"  _Keiko hummed, giving Drayce a quick chuckle._  "Thanks. Now, let's get in."  _He urged, letting the girls go in the caravan first, as he and Korey follow them soon afterward, as the caravan began to head towards Drayce's guild house._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting from here, there may be certain points where I will use prompts from TheShatteredRose to fill in some story segments. Not that there's anything wrong with having nothing but explore and explore, but sometimes a little fun with another guild can add variety, and it never hurts to change things up a bit.
> 
> Drayce belongs to TheShatteredRose.


	7. The Search for Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drayce takes the Lux Guild to his guild house, the Crescentia, in order to find some answers about the jewelry box, and what it may possibly contain within it.

"Korey, why do you explore the Yggdrasil? I hate ask this question, especially since I might know the answer to this, but I wish to know for the hell of it."  _Drayce inquired, getting the Fencer's attention._ "Heh, what makes you say that?"  _Korey chuckled at the Dragoon's worry._

" I dunno..." Drayce began. "It's just usually the main reason explorers want to climb Yggdrasil in hopes of getting fame and glory, history books and whatnot... y'know?"  _He explained, as Korey chuckled even more, understanding what he meant._

"Yeah, Hilda told me the same thing, so I can understand why expectations haven't changed aside from climbing Yggdrasil."  _Korey responded, scratching the back of his head._ "But to answer your question, I'm not climbing Yggdrasil for fame or glory. I'm just here to have a fun journey with my guildmates. Simple as that."

 _Drayce seemed genuinely surprised. Though to Korey, it felt like he just proved another person wrong when he explained it into words, rather than intentions._  "I see. I don't suppose your family is the exploring kind, are they?"  _Drayce queried._

"Oh, they are. Me and my sister grew up hearing their stories of all this fighting, treasure and whatnot. It was just something that made me decide to come to Iorys."  _The brown haired Fencer addressed._

"Ah, fair enough. My parents kicked me out of the house when I finally inherited the Crescentia."  _Drayce explained, as the Fencer let out another chuckle._

"I bet they were glad you were out of their noses after living under the same roof for so long."  _He commented, leaving the Dragoon to shrug in response._ "Probably. Though they were just glad I was following in my grandfather's footsteps."  _The red haired Dragoon wondered to himself._

"I assume your grandfather was a treasure hunter as well?"  _Korey inquired, as Drayce nodded in response._ "Yeah. I guess now that I think back on it, he told me and Blayke all kinds of stories and treasure hunts he did."  _Drayce recalled._

"I'm sure my parents and your grandfather get along great just listening to each other's stories."  _Korey mused, as Drayce chuckled at the thought._   "I'm sure they will."  _He sighed, looking towards the girls, who were chatting among themselves._

"I'm shocked you don't have a Botanist on your guild yet."  _Drayce commented, as the Fencer let out a sigh._ "Well, of course we don't, we just got started on the first floor."  _Korey began._

"We didn't have that much problems with the monsters, and we made it out of the attack last night without anyone else getting hurt. Though it doesn't hurt to try and find someone later down the line."  _Korey continued, making a mental note to try and find a Botanist before they reach the later floors._

"By any chance, do you have a guild house?"  _Drayce asked another question, seeming to never run out of questions._

"No, not really. I'm hoping to find one soon, cause if I end up getting more members, paying for the inn is going to be a huge pain in the rear..."  _Korey sighed, placing his arm near the armrest as he stared out the window._

 _Time must have sped up after he did that, cause next thing he knew, he was getting woken up by Drayce._ "We're here."  _He said, opening the door on the caravan and made his way down._

Korey must have wondered if he somehow fell asleep on their way over to the Crescentia as he and the girls exited the caravan. Demetria helped Beta get down from the caravan, petting the hound once he made it to the ground.

"Welcome back, Drayce."  _Someone called to the Dragoon, as everyone turned to see a man with green hair, along with a green beard and blue eyes approached and greeted Drayce, as he greeted him back._

"So, I assume this guild you brought was the one that was attacked?" _The man inquired._ "Indeed they are."  _Drayce responded, turning to the others._

"Everyone, this is Ashton, the caretaker of the Crescentia when I'm not around."  _He introduced the man next to him. Keiko politely walked up to Ashton, who extended a hand in greeting, and she shook his hand._

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Ashton. My name's Keiko."  _hummed Keiko. "_ Pleased to meet you, ma'am."  _Ashton greeted, as Kyo, Demetria, Hilda, and Korey took turns introducing themselves to him._

"Now that we're all introduced, just what is it that brings you here? I would ask Drayce, but I'd rather hear it from the guild he brought back with him."  _He asked, not wanting to sound rude._

"We found a jewelry box in the first floor of the labyrinth, and tried as we might, we can't get it to open."  _Korey began._ "Then a meanie Therian came in and attacked us, trying to steal our prize away from us!" _Keiko continued, puffing up her cheeks in annoyance. Guess she didn't like that guy so much._

"And I'm sure you know how we got here. We're on the hunt for any information on this jewelry box, and see what's inside it."  _Hilda concluded._

"I see. Then you wish to use the library, am I right?"  _Ashton asked, turning his head to the Dragoon beside him._

"Of course. An investigation almost always starts in the library."  _Drayce replied._

 _Ashton let out a sigh, but uttered a concern to himself._  "Fine by me... but don't stay up late on this project, Drayce."  _He insisted, making his way inside the Crescentia._

 _Korey tilted his head at Drayce in confusion._  "You stay up  _that_  late?"  _He asked._

"I'm sorry, I just love the thrill of finding treasure."  _Drayce apologized, scratching the back of his head._ "Just lead us to the library, Drayce. Ignore Korey's rambling."  _Kyo teased, causing Korey to turn to Kyo's direction._

"Heeeey!"

 _Drayce chuckles at the short hilarious moment between the Earthlain and Celestrian._  "Alright, follow me everyone."  _He motioned, making his way inside the Crescentia as everyone else followed behind him, as they stepped through the tall iron gates._

_Once they stepped inside into the foyer, Korey couldn't help but feel a little jealous. A large wooden staircase spiraled around itself, and from a quick glance, he could tell that it's the only way to reach the other floors. Looking up was a beautiful depiction of an angel with a burning sword, made entirely in colored glass._

_Looking to the left of him he saw a seating room, and with a large fireplace, too! Perhaps it was too easy to tell from his wondering about, but he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that he HAD to get a guild house._  "Hey, are you coming, or are you gonna be left behind just gazing at the place?"  _Hilda's voice called out to him, snapping him out of his usual observant self._

 _He turned to see Hilda and the others eagerly waiting for him to catch up._  "S-Sorry, I'm coming!"  _Korey apologized, making his way to the wooden stairs, keeping track with the group._

_They had to walk a long way to reach the library, since it was contained on the third floor, but it wasn't something that Korey was bothered with. He was sure there must have been a good reason to have the library this high up. Drayce opened the doors to the library, as the Lux Guild saw the huge collection of books in this room._

"Whoa... this is a  _huge_  library!"  _Kyo gasped._  "It sure is, Kyo. Here, Shashi always tends to fall asleep in, mostly due to lack of sleep."  _Drayce began, almost acting like he was acting as their tour guide._

 _Korey chuckled as soon as he listened in._  "Kind of like you?"  _He questioned._

"It's more so Shashi gets away with it because Ashton mostly does it to me. Ashton gets on my case about it a lot..."  _Drayce chuckled back._

"I sense mana."

"Gah!"  _Korey jumped, as an unfamiliar yet energetic voice comes out of nowhere from behind, causing Korey to jump, turning to the light purple haired Celestrian._ "D-Don't scare me like that, please!"  _He groaned, picking up the jewelry box that fell to the floor._

"O-Oh, sorry. I-I just sensed an intense amount of mana and I rushed over to find the source..."  _The Celestrian apologized, as Korey flicked his hair back._

"I-It's fine, um... W-What's your name?"  _Korey inquired._ "My name is Kamali."  _Kamali hummed._

"Kamali... Heh, that's a nice name you have. I'm Korey. Pleased to meet you."  _Korey introduced himself, not noticing Keiko suddenly next to the Celestrian._

"Ooh, more people to greet- Gaah!"  _Keiko was brought falling to the ground as Demetria dragged her Therian ear, getting her away from the light purple haired Celestrian._

"As long as you stay out of his bubble space, I'll be calm, sister!"  _Demetria groaned, as Keiko frantically apologized._  "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let go of my eaaaaar..."  _She begged, only getting her wish after she was brought back to the others._

 _Hilda walked up to the male Celestrian._  "My apologies. Keiko tends to get too hyperactive meeting people if it happened to be in the span of a day, or when it comes to meeting royal people."  _Hilda explained, as Kamali nodded in understanding._

"Ah, Kamali. I had wondered why everybody didn't follow me."  _Drayce chimed in, approaching the group as he placed a hand on his hip._

"Are these new recruits, Drayce?"  _Kamali asked._  "No, they're not. This is the Lux Guild, and I have decided to lend them a helping hand in finding out what this jewelry box has in store."  _Drayce explained, motioning to the jewelry box in Korey's hands._

"Ah, I see. Do you mind if I observe the box for a moment?"  _Kamali inquired._  "Sure, go ahead."  _Korey responded, handing the box over to Kamali, who starts looking at it, almost as if trying to look for something on it._

"Well, one thing I can tell you is that there is an intense amount of mana coming from this box. But it also appears to have another safeguard in place..."  _Kamali began._

"Wow, you were able to detect that? I couldn't even read that amount of mana when I first tried it."  _Kyo gasped in amazement._

"Kamali and his brother are known for detecting mana and decoding ancient texts. His intense detection mana skills is going to make him a vital guild member, after all."  _Drayce explained, as Kyo nodded in understanding._

 _Kamali sees something tiny and written very differently than most languages are written. Drayce turns to see Kamali come to a halt._ "Did you find something?"  _He couldn't help but ask, as Kamali's eyes shifted to look at Drayce._

"Indeed I have."  _He responded, grabbing a circular glass piece from the table next to him, and places it above the tiny writing, expanding it to readable size._  "Seems like there's ancient text on this box."  _Kamali revealed, showing it to everyone._

"Ancient text? On a box like that?"  _Drayce questioned, as Kamali simply nodded, positive of this result._

"What does it say?"  _Keiko asked._  "Well, when spoken as is, it makes no sense, but when translated, there appears to be a name engraved on this jewelry box."  _Kamali explained._

"A name? What's the name?"  _Hilda inquired, as Kamali looks over the scroll of ancient text and writes it down on a separate sheet of paper, translating the symbols on there. He turns to the others and flips the paper he had in his hand._

"The name reads, Caelum." Kamali revealed. "What, or who the heck is Caelum?"  _Korey inquired, confused on why a name would be on the jewelry box._

 _Keiko places a finger on her chin, almost as in deep thought, before she gasps, getting an idea. Demetria turns her head over to her sister._  "Sis, what is it?"  _She asked._

"Demetria, don't you remember? That's the name of our ancestor!"  _Keiko chirped, seeming to jump up and down in joy, seemingly glad to have remembered something._

"Your ancestor?"  _Hilda questioned, though falling upon deaf ears as Keiko walked over to Drayce._ "Drayce, is there a book around here that has the names of Therian warriors, or anything related to him?"  _She queried, hoping there was something around in the library to put a spring in their investigation._

 _Drayce places a hand on his chin, trying to recall from his head._  "I believe there is, but searching on foot and investigating every book may take forever..."  _He said, after what felt like forever._

 _Korey feels a sudden tingle run up his spine, as he slowly turns to see a white, ghastly object with eyes near his face._  "Aaaack!"  _Korey yelled, quickly hiding behind Hilda._

"Wha-?!"  _Hilda glanced, looking at Korey in confusion._ "Please don't kill me Mr. Ghost, I'm innocent, I swear!"  _He begged, seemingly shaking in fear._ _The ghastly being seemed to chuckle, as if glad about something._

"Seems like Theodore has scared another person successfully."  _A voice spoke out from behind Drayce, as the turn to see a dark skinned Necromancer approach the group._  "Theodore?"  _Demetria inquired, scratching her cheek in confusion._

"That's Theo."  _Drayce pointed to the wraith, who pouts at hearing the nickname again._  "Drayce, who are these people?"  _The Necromancer questioned, as Drayce looked up at him._

"They're our guests, Zohar- the Lux Guild."  _He briefly introduced them, positive the guild before them heard his name. Korey shudders behind Hilda, still looking at the wraith._

"That's enough for now, Theodore."  _Zohar commanded, as the wraith vanished after being squished about like a sheet of paper. Though it probably must have done that just to scare Korey at the last second, Korey lets out a sigh of relief, standing beside the white haired Harbinger._

"So you're afraid of ghosts, eh?"  _Hilda remarked, giving Korey a look of intrigue._  "H-Hilda, don't give me that look, please! I was never a huge fan of horror stories!"  _Korey pleaded, as the girl beside him giggled in amusement._

 _Hilda soon glances at Zohar, staring at him for a bit, before the Celestrian notices her eyes were on him._ "Is something the matter?"  _Zohar asked, before Hilda looked away._

"O-Oh, i-it's nothing... it's just that you remind me of a Necromancer I had in another guild of mine."  _She said, quickly ending that little conversation._ "Anyways, Zohar, there is something I have to ask."  _Drayce began, as Zohar's attention was back onto Drayce._ "Ask your question."

"Do you know where we can find a book about Therian warriors in this library?"  _Drayce asked. For a moment, Zohar doesn't appear to respond, showing little movement aside from a tilt of his head. He does however, start moving after a little while._ "...Follow me."

 _The Celestrian makes his way to a shelf, as Drayce and the others follow close behind him. He takes a book off of a shelf he could reach, showing it to Keiko and Drayce._  "Is this the one you speak of?"

 _Keiko takes the book from the Necromancer, reading the title and author, before she flips pages until she lands on a page containing information about Caelum. She lets out a delightful hum upon finding it._  "Ah, this is the one. Thank you, Mr. Zohar!"  _The Therian Masurao thanked, as the Necromancer nods in return, giving a faint smile._

"Now we're getting somewhere. Do you mind if I read what's on there, Keiko?"  _Drayce inquired, intrigued by what's on the page._

"Sure, knock yourself out. I'm quite curious to know about our ancestor."  _Keiko nodded, handing the book over to Drayce, clearing his throat before he begins._

"Caelum was a fierce Therian warrior who fought in the Legendary War. He wasn't selected by a high government- rather, it was due to his kindness to take the spot intended for his wife that made him get selected."

 _Hilda placed her finger on her chin._  "The Legendary War... What is that?"  _She asked, diverging the topic for a second._

"It was a war that occurred a thousand years ago. Many treasures were lost during the Legendary War, which is why I hope to find some of the treasures of that time with everyone in my guild."  _Drayce explained, as the Harbinger hummed, now armed with the knowledge of the war. His eyes flickered back to the page below him._

"Caelum had made many friends, though at the same time, made many enemies due to his benevolence and kind-hearted spirit. He was often threatened by his enemies with death to keep his spirit down, though with his wife and two Celestrian friends, Altum and Amare, by his side, his spirit and benevolence maintained itself within him."

 _Kyo crossed her arms, though not coming off as angry._  "A Therian was friends with two Celestrian friends before the aftermath of the Legendary War... Seems a bit weird if you ask me."  _She uttered to herself, a bit strange that a Therian was able to be friends with her race long before the War took place._

"Ah, here we go. There's information regarding the jewelry box you guys found."  _Drayce perked up upon finding a few paragraphs of interest._ "What did you find?"  _Korey asked, as Drayce placed his finger to follow along with what he read out loud._

"It says that before he was sent off to the Legendary War, he had placed two of the three Therian's sacred relics in a jewelry box, having his Celestrian friends cast a magic seal, along with a curse."  _He noted._

"I suppose that explains the dreadful aura I sensed when I entered the room."  _Zohar commented._  "I didn't think anybody but a Necromancer would've been able to sense a curse like that if all of us didn't feel a thing..."  _Hilda agreed, focusing her attention back to Drayce._

"Caelum passed away in the Legendary War. His wife decided to have her last name, and any descendants from her child onward to bear the name of her husband."

"And me and sis are the current bearers of that last name!"  _Keiko beamed, seeming to be rather proud of the last name she and her twin sister have._ "So, that would make you, Keiko Caelum, and Demetria Caelum..."  _Korey uttered, as Hilda beamed upon hearing the Therian's first and last names spoken._

"It's sounds rather wonderful when you put it that way."  _Hilda noted._  "Do you know if there's any way to break open the seals?"  _Demetria asked._

"It says that the two Celestrians have survived long enough that they live in the second floor of the labyrinth."  _Drayce pointed out._  "Right on the next floor?"  _Kamali questioned in surprise._

"Must have been rough for them to live for that long..."  _Zohar pondered, as Drayce closed the book and placed it right on the desk they had found the name for Caelum._ "I can't imagine why, since Iorys would've probably never opened Yggdrasil if they were here."  _Drayce began._

"But it seems like those two are our only means of seeing if we can get rid of this combination of magic and cursed seal. The magic and curse has been there for so long that I'm afraid it's risky to break the two seals at once."  _Drayce added._

_Though, now this brings up several questions to Korey's mind. Why did the two Celestrians, Altum and Amare, decide to live for over a thousand years? Was there something that forced them to live for this long, or was it merely because they refused to die? So many questions started to rise, but Korey had no time to think on them for the time being._

"So it's settled. Let's head to-"  _Korey began, as the crashing sounds of opening doors interrupted him._  "Drayce!"  _A voice called out to the dragoon, as everybody turned to see a blue haired fencer arrive in the library, approaching his best friend._

"What's up, Blayke?"  _Drayce inquired, confused about why he looked so exhausted from running._ "A group of people are approaching the Crescentia. From what I can tell, these aren't good-willed people."  _Blayke quickly explained, trying to catch his breath._

"W-What could they want from us?"  _Kamali stuttered, wanting to know more information from Blayke. Korey ponders to himself for a bit, before gasping as he came to a realization, turning to the Necromancer and placing the jewelry box in the Necromancer's hand._

"Zohar, hold this for me. We're gonna take care of the upcoming threat."  _Korey declared, as the other girls turned to Korey, seeming to await an order. Before Korey could speak to them, Zohar quickly stops him._

"Why? Why risk your life for someone you don't know?"  _He asked, confused on why Korey was willing to protect mere strangers that he doesn't even know much about._

"Because I'm doing this for myself."  _Korey began, turning his head so the Necromancer can hear him._  "If it helps put smiles on people's faces, and helps them live their lives together, then that's what me and everyone in my guild will do, for that's our role in this world!"  _he concluded, a smile forming on his face as he turns his attention back to his guild members in waiting._

"Lux Guild, follow me!"  _Korey commanded, rushing past Drayce and Blayke, who step back as the girls follow behind Korey, wasting no time in climbing down the spiraling staircase. Zohar stares at the box he had in his hand before setting it down on top of the book about Therian warriors._

"W-Who were those people?"  _Blayke questioned for a good reason._  "They're the Lux Guild, Blayke."  _Drayce began to explain, before noticing Zohar following them._

"Hey, where're you going?"  _He inquired, as the Necromancer turned to face the dragoon._  "To help the Lux Guild. They can use the assist..."  _He declared, summoning his wraith as he descended down the stairs._

_Drayce sighs and follows after him, followed by Kamati and Blayke, seeing as Drayce can use all the help he can get. Outside, Korey and his guild stand a great distance from the Crescentia. They soon notice a group of five people heading their way._

"Here they come..."  _Hilda warned, ready to grab her scythe at a moment's notice._  "Their formation is so obvious, I can already tell one of them is a Dragoon."  _Kyo grinned, easily managing to distinguish one enemy from afar._

"That'll present a problem if we don't do something about it."  _Keiko added, as Demetria nodded._ "Then we'll focus our efforts on the dragoon. The rest of them will fall shortly afterward."  _Demetria concluded, hearing Beta growl at the approaching enemies._

 _Korey soon notices a Harbinger with a blue stripe as his hair color._ "T-That can't be..."  _He uttered to himself, almost taken aback._

_The opposing group slowly came to a halt, allowing everyone on the Lux Guild an opportunity to see their enemies. They easily recognize the Therian Pugilist from last night, but see a female Therian with the same skin color as the Pugilist standing beside him, but with purple hair. A female fencer's eye color was different from each eye: she had pink in her right eye, and purple in her left eye. Her hair seemed to be a darker shade of magenta, and she wore a red outfit, seeming to hold her sword and shield at the ready._

_Next, they saw a Celestrian whose hair seemed like it would be on fire due to the mix of red and orange. He seemed to wear the same green robes as Kamali, as he appeared to be rather anxious, having just noticed the oppoenent he's about to face, his green eyes gazing towards the ground. He carried a different weapon with him than Kyo did, though it was hard to tell what it was from a distance._

_Finally, the Harbinger that Korey recognized from afar. His hair was a darker shade of brown, yet he had a pony tail that was connected by a silver hairband. He appeared to have a light blue scythe, alongside a feathered wing on his back that had the same color as the scythe. His eyes were a mix of cyan and dark green. Certainly a strange mix of eye color, if Korey expressed his thoughts into words._

_The Therian Pugilist from earlier points to Korey._  "That's him, Charon. Fencer boy contained jewelry box, but guildmates of fencer boy stopped me from retrieving it."  _The Therian declared, as Korey gasped the moment he heard the Harbingers' name._

"C-Charon?!"  _Korey stuttered in surprise, as Hilda turned her head to look at Korey._  "Who's Charon?"  _She inquired._

"My family told me and my sister a horror story about him. He's gone and claimed countless lives that he's essentially nicknamed the  _Harbinger of Death_!"  _Korey explained, seeing the Harbinger smirk as he started to approach the fencer._

"Well, I'll be... Seems like somebody in this whole world finally recognized me from my talents."  _Charon began, starting to circle around Korey and gazed at him, as the brown haired man tried to hold his ground, and not flinch from his gaze._

"I must say, your family must have taught you well to avoid me."  _The Harbinger began._  "But now it seems like somebody must've ignored their mother and ended up bumping into death itself."  _He continued, still circling around him._

"What the hell does that mean?"  _Korey questioned, as the man before him simply laughed out loud._  "Ohooo, you make me laugh, naive boy. It was fate itself that decided that we'd meet today."  _Charon exclaimed, making his way back to his group._

"But enough about me. I suppose you're curious about who we are..."  _Charon began, spreading his arms out motioning to the people behind him._  "We are not a guild, if you've been thinking that from the moment we met. We're simply mercenaries, no more, no less."  _He disclosed, bringing an arm around the Therian Pugilist._

"This Therian boy you met last night was Mislav. Next to me is his cousin, Radha."  _Charon continued, as the female Therian huffed, and looked away from Charon._

"And this Celestrian boy is named Ion. His training as a Shaman is gonna be put to the test here today, am I right my boy?"  _Charon inquired, as Ion quickly nodded._

"Y-Y-Yes, C-Charon sir."  _Ion stuttered, as Charon patted his back before triwlling around and wrapped an arm around the female Fencer._ "Lastly, we have Verica."  _The girl rolled her eyes in disgust._

"Do you  _always_  have to introduce me like that?"  _Verica growled, getting irked at his antics._ "But that's because I like y- Ow!"  _Charon yelped, getting slapped by yhe girl beside him, rubbing his cheek to try and ease the pain._

"Oh shut up already!"  _She yelled, crossing her arms and looked the opposite direction._

"So if you're mercenaries, why not bring more with you?"  _Hilda questioned, confused on why Charon simply brought four members if they can be cheap and bring more._ "Our boss told me the very same thing, but as a matter of fact, I'm confident in my numbers as it is!"  _Charon replied, sounding overly confident_.

"Riiiight... So, I'm gonna venture a guess here, and say that you're here for the jewelry box we took on the first floor."  _Korey humored the Harbinger, seemingly joking around._

"Ding ding ding, we have ourselves a winner!"  _Charon clapped, hoping the others would join in, but slowly stops when he sees they aren't._  "Now, if you will be a good boy and surrender the box, we'll let you live with your lives. Otherwise, fate will just have to make its way to you like a predator chases its prey!"  _He warned, taking out his scythe and pointing it at Korey and his guild._

"Heh, you're bold, but if you think we're gonna surrender it, you might as well think again!"  _Korey reflected, taking out his sword and shield, with his guild members following suit in taking out their weapons._  "That box belongs under the Caelum name! And we're not letting you take it away from me and Demetria!"  _Keiko declared, not willing to let another hand touch the box._

 _Charon gritted his teeth._  "Heh, suit yourself... Your loss for not listening to the Harbinger of Death."  _Charon soon charged at Korey, who did the same, as their weapons collided._

_Keiko starts giving Radha trouble, giving her no time to set up bunkers._

"Just... let me... set up a... bunker!"  _Radha yelled, attempting to use her shield as a weapon, though was easily knocked back by Keiko slashing the shield away._ "In your dreams, sister!"  _Keiko chuckled, using the opening she created to strike at Radha._

"Give that Pugilist what for, Beta!"  _Demetria commanded, shooting an arrow at Mislav to prevent him from punching Beta, as the hound finally bites his hand, as the Pugilist flails in pain._ "Stupid hound, stupid hound, stuuupiiiiid!"  _He cried, as Radha rolled her eyes in disgust._

Kyo launches a fireball at the female fencer, who dodges it.

"Biggest mistake aiming for me!"  _Verica declared, making a leaping strike towards Kyo. She simply smirked, side hopping out of the way before she can even land the strike, causing her sword to be stuck in the ground._ "What?!"  _Verica yelled in surprise, as she attempts to get her sword out of the ground, pulling on it with all her might._

"I've had tons of practice against Korey. That move you did was just so lame, I could see it coming a mile away!"  _Kyo screamed, kicking the long haired fencer away from her weapon._

 _Hilda helps Keiko against the Dragoon, who is defended an attack intended for Ion._ "Ion, don't just  _stand_  there, do something with that Shaman training of yours!"  _Radha growled, as Ion flinched back in surprise._

"G-Got it..."  _Ion then closed his eyes, before whispering something incomprehensible, drawing a blue card from his hand and raising it to the sky, giving his allies a fiery aura._ "Paralyzing Reap!"  _Charon yelled, swinging his scythe upwards before swinging it downward._

 _Heh, big mistake. Korey thought to himself, simply dodging out of the way._  "For somebody with a Fencer on your side, you sure don't take lessons by practicing with her! Optic Thrust!"  _Korey grinned, before charging at Charon so fast, proceeding to blind him with the aftermath of his slash._

"Fuck, I can't see a thing! Ion, do something!"  _Charon yelled, hoping the Celestrian got the message._

"How can he do anything if I'm focused on trying to protect him?!"  _Radha argued, before feeling electricity spread throughout her entire being._  "Gaaahaagh!"  _She yelled, looking at the female Celestrian, as her staff turned from yellow back to purple._

"Shouldn't have brought a metallic shield to fight a Warlock."  _Kyo smirked, before firing a fireball attack right at Radha, who reflected the fireball._ "U-Um... F-Focus Pr-"  _Ion tried to use his skill, but notices the reflected fireball heading his way._

 _Ion places his arms up in hopes to safeguard himself, thinking he wasn't gonna survive being hit. However, the sound of the fireball hitting a shield caught his attention, as he slowly moved his arms..._ "H-Huh?!"  _The male Celestrian gasped, as he saw Korey stand right in front of him, shield up against himself to shield the fireball._

 _He turned to the Celestrian male and smiled at him._  "Are you alright?"  _He asked Ion, who tried to find the right words in return._ "Y-Yes, but... w-why did you-"

"Save you?"  _Korey interrupted, as Ion nodded, meaning to finish with those words._  "Heh, beats me. Guess something in my heart told me to keep you alive."  _Korey chuckled, shrugging to himself._

"Besides, I wouldn't want to stick around these guys if I were you. These guys don't seem to have the best co-ordination."  _He added, seeing as the Therian Dragoon is having issues with Keiko and Kyo._

"B-But the boss would-"  _Ion began, stopping immediately when Korey placed a finger on his mouth._ "Forget about that... you could have a more happier life- one that's not held back by mercenary life. I know it's all hard to take in at the moment, but consider that fact, will you?"  _Korey concluded, as he goes back to the fight at hand._

_Ion was really at a loss for words. This was to be his first battle, where he can finally prove his worth as a mercenary. Yet, here he is, at a complete loss for words, where an enemy not only protected him, but even cared for him..._

_As Hilda and Charon clash their scythes against each other, Mislav tries punching Demetria, though the latter keeps dodging out of his predictable punching pattern._ "Will fragile girl stop moving already?!"  _Mislav questioned, as Demetria draws back her bow with an arrow at the ready._

"Not one bit! Hunter Shot!"  _She released the string of the bow, shooting the arrow at his arms, though he punches through the arrow, obliterating it. Though that wasn't the only thing she had up her sleeve..._

"Go for the legs, Beta!"  _She commanded, as Beta barked and made his way towards the Pugilist's legs._  "Oh no you don't!"  _Mislav attempts to punch Beta, who dodges just in time and quickly bites his arms, as green vines surrounded them._

"Graaaagh!"  _the Therian Pugilist screamed in pain, as the sharp ends of the vines ensured the arms were stuck together._  "What have you done to my precious arms?!"  _he yelled, almost wanting to cry in tears._

"Without your arms, you're just a sitting duck. And that will hold you back for the time being! Ciao!"  _Demetria winked, rushing off with Beta to help the others. Keiko slashed at Verica, causing her arm to sway back from the recoil._

"Grrr... Where is this sudden strength of yours coming from?!"  _She yelled, making an upward slash with her sword in an attempt to throw the Masurao off._

"I don't know, myself! But it must be because I'm willing to protect my friends, unlike you guys, who just take lives for the money!"  _Keiko said, blocking the upward slash with one sword, and slashing at her extremely fast with the other, making contact with Verica as she screams in pain._

"Ion! Can't see shit still...!"  _The dark brown haired Harbinger yells, attempting to slash at Korey, who keeps dodging his attacks, often hitting him to take advantage of his misses._

"Aww, what's the matter? Blinded and your misses keep making me hit you? Did the cat get your tongue?"  _Korey taunted, dodging yet another attack from Charon, using his Optic Thrust skill again, causing Charon to flinch back from being hit._

 _Radha's focus was protecting Mislav, as she tries to hold of Kyo's fire spell._  "These twerps don't give up! Why are they fighting us off so well?! They're just novice explorers!"  _She growled, not understanding the situation at hand._

"Maybe they not novice?"  _Mislav asked, as Radha turned to face him._  "We were  _told_  by you that they  _were_  novice explorers! How can you be this- Huh?!"  _She started to yell at him, before seeing something ghastly appear before her, catching her off guard._

"Flame Bomb."  _A voice commanded, as the wraith soon laughed at Radha's face, slowly inflating and turning red in the blink of an eye, exploding right in front of her, making her lose her shield, planting itself right in front of Ion. The explosion hit every one of the mercenaries, save for Ion who was saved by the planted shield._

 _Korey soon notices Zohar mysteriously appeared by his side._  "Zohar...!"  _he gasped in surprise._ "Are you alright?"  _The necromancer inquired, seeing Korey's shocked expression turning into a smile before his very eyes._

"Yeah, I'm alright."  _Korey replied. Zohar beams, as he looked back at the mercenaries, snapping his fingers to recall Theodore, who waved his arms as if to be fancy with his reintroduction._

"Hey you!"  _Verica hears a voice call out to her, looking around for the source of the voice, before noticing a red haired dragoon pointing his gun at her._ "Barrage Wall!"  _Drayce yelled, shooting at the four mercenaries once, causing a yell of pain to come out from them. Kyo looked behind her and noticed him standing there._

"You came too, Drayce?"  _The female Celestrian asked, surprised by him showing up as well._  "I couldn't sit here and do nothing. Not when my guild house is being threatened."  _Drayce responded, a smile forming on his face._

 _Blayke and Kamali both simultaneously attacked Charon and Mislav, who were trying to recover from the Flame Bomb and Barrage Wall attack. Charon growled as he attempted to stand up._ "What do you think now, suckers? There's nine of us, and only five of you!"  _Blayke taunted, seeing the look of agony on Charon's face._

 _Ion peeks from behind the shield, looking directly at Korey. Even from afar, Ion could sense an overwhelming kind aura emitting from the fencer, that he seemed to have not notice his cheeks turning red like a tomato._  "Will I... be able to... keep him alive?" _Ion swooned._

"Grrrgh, what is keeping that boy so long?!"  _Charon yelled, quickly snapping Ion to reality._ "He  _should_  be supplying us with power, but he's been doing jack shit this whole time!"  _Radha snarled, standing up after a couple of tries._

"We are outnumbered. Must retreat now!"  _Mislav grunts, as he begins to run in the opposite direction of the two guilds. Radha reaches into her bag and uses a Therica B on Charon, making him able to see again, before grabbing her shield and takes Ion by the hand, following behind Mislav._

"Grrr, I need a serious makeover..."  _Verica groans, as she too, follows the other mercenaries._

"This isn't over yet, boy!"  _Charon declared, after standing up and backing away slowly._  "Death will come for you, for I am the Harbinger of Deaaaaagh?!"  _He screamed, tripping midway during his attempt at his signature pose. Everyone stares at him in confusion._

"Harbinger of Death...?" Zohar questioned. "That's one massive fail of an epic pose if I must say so myself."  _Drayce jested, as Charon slowly gets up from his massive fail of a pose._

"Oh s-shut up! The wrath of the gods shall soon descend on you! Just you wait and see!"  _He yelled, before eventually fleeing,_

"Well, there they go. Off to who knows where..."  _Korey commented, unsure where the mercenaries had to go when they decided to retreat, placing his weapon away._

"I'd say for a five on five situation, that wasn't bad."  _Kyo hummed, placing her staff away._ "That's because one of their members only did one action throughout the entire fight. We still need to have caution if we do face a guild five on five again."  _Hilda argued, taking a deep breath as she tried to recover from all the running around she had to do._

"Is everyone alright? No severe injuries?"  _Blayke inquired, as Korey nodded in reassurance._ "We're all okay, man. Nothing a Medica can't fix."  _He replied._

"They retreated rather quickly though..." Kamali noted. "So much for wanting to take back the jewelry box."  _Demetria sighed, feeling the dragoon look at her._

"Was that what they were after?"  _He queried, as Keiko approached him._ "Yeah, pretty much. They act more like bandits than mercenaries, though..."  _Keiko answered his question, as Kyo crossed her arms and started pondering something._

"What's the plan from here though? Do we just go to the labyrinth and bring the Celstrians back here to open the box that way, or..."  _She pondered, ultimately unaware of the option her best friend chose._

"We're bringing the jewelry box with us."  _Korey declared, hearing everyone gasp at the sudden idea._  "But Korey,"  _Drayce began._  "if they know you have the jewelry box, then they'll-"

 _Korey placed his hand on Drayce's shoulder._  "Let them try. My guild members are trustworthy enough to protect me as I will protect them. Isn't that right, girls?"  _He turned his head to face the girls._

"Exactly."  _Hilda replied, with a smile on her face._  "Let's do it to it!"  _Keiko chirped._

"We're with you all the way."  _Demetria hummed, as Beta barked after Demetria, seeming to give his answer._  "Once best friends, always best friends."  _Kyo concluded, grinning from ear to ear._

"Interesting..."  _The necromancer muttered to himself, but somehow was enough for Blayke to hear him._  "What do you mean?"  _The blue haired fencer questioned._

"Though they're novice explorers, they managed to fend off a group of mercenaries by themselves. When we showed up, they fled like cats between their legs."  _Zohar elaborated, though even Kamali was even lost on the explanation._

"I think they're more afraid of being outnumbered, cause that's when their whole operation seems to fall apart."  _Drayce further explained, as Kamali and Blayke soon understood what Zohar was trying to say._

"So, shall we get going to the second floor once we pick up the box?"  _Korey asked._ "But Ashton might-"  _Blayke tried to argue, but his best friend placed an arm around him, interrupting him mid-sentence._

"Come on, Blakie, lighten up! It's just the second floor. We'll get to explore that floor some other time!"  _Drayce beamed, as Kamali soon turned to Blayke._

"I say we go to the second floor."  _Kamali hummed._  "I concur."  _The necromancer followed up, as Blayke soon realizes he is outmatched in this situation._

"Fine. We'll go and get the box."  _Drayce patted his friend's back._ "I'll come too."  _Drayce added, looking towards Korey's guild._ "You guys go back to town and prepare yourselves. We'll see you in a couple of minutes."

 _Korey nodded._  "Alright. We'll meet in front of the labyrinth!"  _He declared, seeing the four of them making their way back to the Crescentia._ "I say we get some Medica's and an Aridine Thread from Syrik before we go meet them at Yggdrasil." _Hilda noted, as Korey hummed in agreement._

"Right. Let's go, everyone!"  _Korey beamed, leading the way back to Iorys. As things settle down, a wraith emerges from the bush, seeming to have overseen the entire battle. It instantly rushes towards the Yggdrasil, entering the labyrinth's entrance and soon meets a Celestrian Necromancer, who appears to have been sleeping under her coffin weapons, having them act as her cover while she and another Celestrian rest together._

 _The wraith pokes at the girl, getting her to wake up, as her black pupils and cyan eyes glanced at the wraith._  "Ah, you're back... how'd it go? Were you able to find something of interest?"  _She asked, slightly tilting up her head._

 _The Wraith speaks in gibberish only the girl could understand._ "Uh huh... So, there's two Therian girls who both inherit him as their last name... But are those two really his descendants?"  _She groaned, trying to keep up with her interest in the conversation._

 _The Wraith continues to speak, seeming to believe that they are the descendants they were looking for._ "I see. If you say so... Return for now."  _the necromancer waved her hand over it, making it vanish into the very air around it._

_As she glances upwards under the shade of her weapon, yet wrapped in the arms of the other Celestrian, she placed a finger on her chin, and started to think to herself._

"Seems like we're finally reaching our goal. After one thousand years, will we finally get our eternal rest..."  _She sighed, slowly closing her eyes as she fell asleep once again. The day was still young, she'll get her energy back sooner or later._

_Meanwhile, the mercenaries that fled from the battle hid in an area just a few miles away from the labyrinth's entrance. It wasn't a great place to hide in, but it was merely a temporary spot to hide. Some of them were tending to each other's injuries._

"Pain still remains here..."  _Mislav groaned, as Verica applies more of the Medica on the injuries the Pugilist pointed to. Charon walked back and forward, grumbling to himself._  "If those fools think they can sully my act, then they're sorely mistaken..."

"I think your whole 'Harbinger of Death' persona is starting to get to you."  _Radha commented, getting a sharp glare from Charon._ "Do  _you_  want to be next on my to kill list?! Cause I will do that!"  _He yelled at the Therian Dragoon, who rolled her eyes, unfazed by his yelling tactics._

"Not until the boss finds out."  _She smirked, as Charon growls and kicks the dirt in frustration._ "Grrrrh! We need a new plan, something that will get that damn boy to surrender the jewelry box!"  _He crossed his arms, tapping his foot while trying to think of something._

"Why not just ambush them?"  _Verica suggested, as Charon gasps and turned to Verica with amazement in his eyes._ "Verica, you genius! Come on, give me more ideas!" He urged, coming closer to her so he can listen to her, only for her to huff and focus back on healing Mislav.

"What, that's it?!"  _Charon questioned, before sighing and placing a finger on his chin._  "Ugh, fine. Now, everyone, let's discuss how we're going to do this..."  _He began, seeming to keep everyone else busy, as Ion sneaked into Charon's bag and took an Ariadne Thread, sneaking far away from the group until he was out of their sight._

 _Ion then places a cloak on himself, making sure his identity was cloaked to others._  "Nice man was right... Must warn nice man of danger. Ariadne Thread, take me to Iorys."  _The Celestrian activated the thread, taking him to an alleyway in Iorys._

_Did it take him in the wrong direction, and not the main square of Iorys? Oh well. He had to hurry. There was no time to take it slow. He immediately set off to find the guild leader he had met before..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drayce, Ashton, Shashi (Mentioned), Zohar, Blayke, and Kamali belong to TheShatteredRose.


	8. A Close Encounter of the Harbinger Variety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ion, now knowing the plan his mercenary group has planned, rushes through the city of Iorys in an attempt to find the kind gentleman that saved his life once before. Though when he encounters a Harbinger that’s on the prowl to destroy anyone that gets on his nerve, how will Ion survive the encounter?

_The day was still in motion, as Ion continues running. He's checked high and low, unable to find any sign of Korey or his guild. Were they on their way to Iorys, or was he too late?_

"No... Ion must find nice man. Must warn nice man of danger."  _Ion uttered to himself, as he continues his search. He eventually bumps into someone, who grunts in pain, as he continues to run past him. This irked the man, turning to face Ion._

"Hey, you!"  _The man yelled, as Ion turned to face the man, seeing he was a Harbinger with black hair and red eyes. He had some iron piercings on his face, and silver earrings, yet his black and red clothes could easily mistake him for an edgy Harbinger, noticing his dark red wing behind him._  "Don’t you know it’s RUDE to bump into people?!"  _He growled, gritting his teeth at him._

_Ion quickly bowed in apology._  "I-I’m s-sorry, sir, I’m just looking for someone..."  _Ion stuttered, as the Harbinger stopped in front of him._

"Oh I’ll  _give_  ya someone to look for, alright..."  _The Harbinger began, taking his purple scythe out, bringing it behind his head as it to prepare an attack, causing Ion to flinch._ "Someone to take that miserable life of yours!"  _He yelled, before getting a cloak shoved in his face as he takes a few steps back trying to get it off. Ion takes the opportunity to run away from him._

"Grah!"  _The harbinger snarled, finally getting the cloak off, sharply turning his head to Ion, who was a lot further ahead of him._  "Get back here, you fucking coward!"  _The harbinger threatened, as he began to follow Ion in pursuit._

"Alright girls, time to do a little bit of shopping before we explore the labyrinth to look for the two Celestrians."  _Kyo hummed, looking forward to head back into the labyrinth._ "We must make sure we consider our choices, cause we might not have that much after we sell the materials dropped from the monsters to Syrik."  _Hilda reminded the Celestrian girl._

"I’m sure we’ll have enough money, Hilda!"  _Keiko chirped, before waving at some other explorers as Demetria urges her to continue onward. Korey continued walking close behind them._

"Graaah!"  _Korey stopped as soon as a yell reached his ears, turning to the left, quickly seeing Ion run from behind a building to another, as a rather frustrated Harbinger followed him. Korey blinked and placed a finger on his chin._

"Was that... Charon?"  _Korey wondered. No, that couldn’t have been him... Korey thought to himself, shaking his head. Charon had a different hair and clothes than what that harbinger just wore._  "I have to save Ion!"

_Korey rushes to the area where the Harbinger and Ion ran through, trying not to cause another explorer to fall in his wake. Although he was sure that the girls probably would've needed his input on a few purchases, the fencer knew they can handle shopping way more than he can. He had a guy to save, after all. What good is a hero if they ignore someone in danger?_

_He makes it through the traffic, seeing the harbinger and starts the pursuit. Although he was running as fast as he can, due to this area of Iorys being residential, and not having many people going through the streets at this time of day, the harbinger still inched closer to the Celestrian. Just running faster and potentially tripping may cost him a few extra seconds._

"Damn it..."  _Korey cursed, noticing a different path ahead, and without hesitation, decides to take the alternate path._  "I hate to resort to using shortcuts, but I have no choice!"  _Korey uttered in his breath, having never ran this fast in his life much before in his life._

"Stop running already!"  _He heard the harbinger scream, urging Korey to run faster than before._ "Stay... away!"  _Ion yelled, turning to the right, before the harbinger did the same thing._

_The chase occurred for several minutes. Ion went through twists and turns, but ended up being followed by the Harbinger. Looking ahead of him, Ion soon realized his luck had ran out..._  "Oh no... dead end!"  _Ion gasped, nearly exhausted and unable to run any further._

"Heh, looks like you’re at the end of the road, bitch."  _Ion flinched, turning to see the Harbinger approach him, seeming to have a strange aura about him as he prepared to swing._ "Paralyzing Reap!"

_The Harbinger slashes at Ion, causing a huge tear, not only on his clothes, but the slash scratched across his skin, as Ion screams in pain from the attack._   _He attempts to cover the tear with his arms, feeling blood dripping onto his clothes and ground below him, grunting as he felt his body slowly succumb to being numb. The paralysis must have taken effect on him, and now he can't move an inch..._

_The harbinger yells in laughter, gritting his teeth as his eye stares at the now paralyzed Celestrian male._  "Not so tough now, are ya?!"  _He began, getting up in Ion's personal space._  "This is what you get for bumping into me!"  _The harbinger took a few deep breaths, before backing up and prepares another swing of his scythe._

"Now, hold still while I deliver the final blow to you!"  _He concluded. Ion gulped, feeling fear and despair crawl down his back. It appeared to be the end of his life. He closed his eyes in acceptance, feeling a tear start descending on his face..._

"Get your grubby hands off of Ion, you bastard!"  _Ion heard a familiar voice call out, gasping as he quickly brings his head up to see Korey kicking the harbinger in the stomach, and then picking him up and throwing him into a pile of barrels, knocking them over as he screams in pain. Ion simply blinked, staring in amusement, but then grunts in pain as the wound on his chest reminded him of the pain he's in._

"Ion, are you alright?!"  _Korey yelled, as he quickly approached him, noticing the wound on his chest. He tries getting him to move his arms, but little luck came out from doing so._

"Shit,"  _Korey cursed under his breath._  "this can’t be good. The girls have my bag and I can’t reach them in time..."  _He pondered on what he can do now, as he tried getting some air back in his body._

"Ion sorry... Ion... idiot... Ion failed..."  _Ion sniffed, as he felt more tears stream down his face._

"Don’t spout such nonsense!"  _Korey yelled, picking him up and held him bridal style, surprising the Celestrian male before Ion's cheeks turned red from the surprise sweep._ "We need to find a Botanist, and fast!"  _Korey declared, making it through the way he came from, doing his best to find a pace that's between running and running while making sure the person in his arms doesn't get hurt._

_The harbinger soon breaks free of the barrels, struggling to get away from them by crawling out of the pile, and used his scythe to stand up. Man, he did not **expect**  someone to catch him off guard. He looked around, catching his breath before noticing where Korey was going, seeing him turn to the right, causing the man to snarl and place his weapon away, feeling like it's hindering his progress._

"That bastard is getting away... I won’t let him!"  _He barked, beginning to make his way to him._

_Korey did not want to look back, in fear he might bump into something. Besides, running with someone in his arms was still something he had to keep his focus on. Still having some strength in his voice, Korey decided he needed to yell and get someone's attention._

"Anyone! Please help! This Celestrian is injured and he needs healing!"  _Korey screamed, continuing to do so for a while. He realizes he might be attracting the harbinger's attention while doing so, but he wasn't thinking straight anymore- he was in full flight mode._

"Hey you!"  _a gentle voice called out to him, causing Korey to slowly come to a halt._  "Huh?"  _Korey looked around for the source of the voice that called out to him, panting like he ran a freaking marathon three times over._

"Behind you!"  _the gentle voice called again, as Korey turned behind him to see a Brouni with black hair, red eyes with red glasses, and with white and red clothes motioning to him to come inside. Korey gasped, both in surprise, and in relief._

"This way!"  _the Brouni called again. Korey, with the remaining energy he had left, approaches the Brouni and enter the house, as the Brouni closed the door behind him. The harbinger, slowly crawling to a halt, knelt down and looks around, wondering where the two boys went._

"Where the hell did they go? Ya can’t be serious right now..."  _The harbinger panted, growling in frustration as he continued to look around for signs of the fencer or the Celestrian._

"Grrrr… Do you hear me, you damned boy?!"  _The harbinger snapped, yelling at the top of his lungs._  "I’ll find you,  _and_  that Celestrian, and I’ll kill you  _both_  the next time we meet! Don’t forget that!"  _He concluded, slowly walking forward, taking his sweet time walking back to the central square of Iorys._

_Korey sighs in relief, placing Ion onto the couch as he sits down on the floor, brutally exhausted from running._ "Sheesh, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time, kid?"  _The Brouni inquired, getting Korey's attention._

"First of all..."  _Korey began, still trying to recover from the marathon he did._  "I’m not a kid. Second of all, I was just trying to save Ion from being killed by that Harbinger. He’s still losing a bit of blood, and he’s been paralyzed by that same harbinger..."  _He explained, showing the wound to the Brouni._

_The Brouni blinked and adjusted his glasses._  "So, what? Are you expecting me to heal him?"  _He huffed, crossing his arms._

"Yes!"  _Korey yelled._ "You’re a Brouni, aren’t you? You got to have some sort of healing skills to use on him!"  _He queried, wanting him to hurry up and save him already._

"Pfft, why can’t you do it?"  _The Brouni scoffed, slowly starting to get on Korey's nerves._ "Because I left my bag with my guild members, who are currently shopping right now! If we don’t do something for Ion, I can’t forgive myself for not helping him!"  _Korey barked, getting an angry glare from the Brouni._

"He’s your problem, not mine!"  _The Brouni snapped, facing away from the fencer as Korey got on his knees, already tired from standing up._ "Please, I’m begging you...!"  _The brown haired fencer pleaded._

"I know that this Celestrian is a total stranger to you and me, but I genuinely  _care_  for his well being... If I fail here, then how would I ever look at myself ever again?"  _His voice quavered, as tears soon started forming from his eyes._

"N-Nice man..."  _Ion groaned, blinking as his heart felt sorrow for the man who had saved his life not once, but twice. To think he might not succeed here was heavily weighing him down._

_The fencer felt his tears drip onto the wooden floor below, bawling his eyes out as the Brouni turned to witness the sorrow from the man he had brought into his home, slowly regretting snapping back at him all of a sudden. What kind of facade was he attempting to accomplish if it ended up making him look bad? Guiltiness was starting to tug at his heart, as he looked at his hand and sighed... The Brouni himself was never great at comforting others, yet he knew that snapping and complaining at him would not make the situation any better._

_Taking off his glasses for a few seconds to wipe away the slightest tear forming in his eyes, he soon starts climbing onto the couch, as Korey slowly looks up, wiping away the tears from his eyes as the black haired Brouni looked over the wound on Ion. He felt he was being stared at from the Celestrian male as he looked over to see Ion's worried face._ "Mr. Brouni..."  _The fiery haired Celestrian groaned._

"You’ll be alright, kid."  _The Brouni reassured, as he opened his bag, and grabs some refreshing herbs in one hand, and healing herbs in another hand, placing them on the injury on Ion’s chest. As he let them settled, he cleared his throat, before doing some wave of the hand over the wound, as the herbs started glowing._

"Now, magical herbs, do your thing! Heal this wounded Celestrian from the wound inflicted upon him!"  _The Brouni chanted, using some sort of skills on the herbs lying on the Celestrian. Ion quickly breathed in air, as he turned his hands and head around a few times. Seems like the paralyze effect was quickly removed from his body, enabling him to move again._

_He soon felt the wound on his chest slowly heal up, forming a rather easy-to-notice scar on his chest, as the blood that once flowed from it started to dry from being out so long. Korey places his hands around his mouth, in pure awe of what had happened._ "I-Ion...!"  _Korey gasped, quickly wrapping his arms around Ion, as the Celestrian once again blushed, seemingly relieved to live once more, narrowly avoiding a quick glance of death itself._

"N-Nice man... M-Mr. Brouni..."  _Ion sniffed, overjoyed with emotions that he wish he could hug the tiny person on the couch._

"Please, call me Bortos. That’s my name after all."  _The Brouni known as Bortos introduced, taking off the herbs that were on Ion and stuffed them into the bag on his person._

"Bortos... how can I ever thank you for your help?"  _Korey inquired, wondering if there was someway to repay his kindness._ "Think nothing of it, kid."  _Bortos replied, as Korey sighed at his use of 'kid' again._

"My name is Korey. And I gotta be honest, with you as a guild member, exploring through the Yggdrasil would be a lot more easier. Will you-"  _Korey began._

"Pfft, no thanks."  _Bortos interrupted, seeming to go back to that jerkish side of him once again._ "What, why not?"  _Korey questioned, confused by what Bortos meant._

"Kicked myself out of a guild I was in, once I realized they were using me as a  _means_  of progressing. Told them to go find a different Brouni or die in hell without a healer."  _The Brouni huffed, crossing his arms once more._

_Korey scratched his cheek._  "That's a bit too harsh, don’t you think?"  _He queried, as Bortos turned around to dust off a photo frame._

"It’s their fault they didn’t see me as a valuable member to the team. What makes you think I’m gonna change my mind over one man and a Celestrian who required healing?"  _Bortos questioned, scoffing at the idea that someone like Korey would ever convince him to change his mind._

"Bortos... I know a guild member who had been replaced the moment something bad happened to her."  _Korey began, as Ion slowly sat up to listen to Korey's explanation._

"She also was in a relationship with someone in her previous guild, and when she was dumped by him, she felt like she was losing everything that she cared for. Two other guild members of mine met her and kept her company for as long as they can, before they eventually found themselves under my care in my guild; the Lux Guild."  _Korey continued, standing up before he let out a sigh._

"Seeing people in pain, or alone without a guild for them to turn to is like ignoring a person crying for help. I want to be able to put smiles on their faces... make them live their lives like one big happy family. That’s the kind of guild I want to see myself leading."  _Korey concluded, finished with his recalling of how he got Hilda to join his guild._

"K-Korey..."  _Ion swooned, turning his head and smiling as he rocked a bit back and forth. As for Bortos... well, how would he put it?_

_Confusion, hope, and maybe a sense of curiosity was what Bortos was feeling at the moment. It was something that he never thought he'd experience... but yet, here he is, hearing to someone ramble about how he got someone to join a guild despite feeling down in the dumps. He simply turned to him, almost in awe._

"I suppose... it wouldn’t hurt to see where this is going."  _Bortos began, looking up towards the male Fencer._  "You got yourself a deal."  _Korey soon beamed when Bortos accepted his offer to join his guild. He then turns to face Ion, who glances at him in return._

"What say you, Ion? Want to join the Lux Guild?"  _Korey inquired, giving the male Celestrian Shaman some time as  Ion places a finger on his chin._

"Ion... want to join guild."  _Ion nodded, as Korey jumped in joy, as Bortos chuckles at his excitement. Korey stops himself moments afterward, seeming to remember why he left the girls in the first place._

"...Ah, fuck, the girls are probably waiting for me! We gotta get going!"  _Korey yelped, turning to the Brouni before him._  "Is there a fast route to the central plaza of Iorys?!"  _He inquired, wanting directions and fast._

_Bortos places a finger on his chin._  "I believe the path straight forward will be the path that will guide you to the plaza of Iorys."  _Korey nods, quickly making his way to the door._

"Got it. Come on you two, we got to get to the plaza!"  _He urged, making his way through the open door, as Ion gets up and follows after him._

_Bortos sighs and shrugs his shoulders._  "I swear, that kid's gonna get himself hurt one of these days."  _He mumbles to himself, taking one last look around his home, and deciding to grab everything that belonged to him; sheets, photos, fragile objects, things like that. He wasn't gonna be having a home for a long time, so he figured he might as well bring all his possessions with him on his newfound journey._

"Well... this is goodbye, my sweet abode."  _He sighed, closing the door after turning off the lights. After making sure he had a tight hold on his possessions, he soon ran after Korey and Ion, who were likely much more further ahead than him._

"Where the hell did Korey go? I could’ve sworn he was right behind us the whole time..."  _Demetria wondered, looking all around her, with no luck in finding their guild leader._

"I’m sure he must not have gotten that far..."  _Keiko added, also looking around for him with Kyo and Hilda. Still was kind of weird he just up and vanished on them without telling them._

_Hilda soon notices Korey coming from a flight of stairs down._  "Girls, I see him!"  _She alerted them, as the three girls look in her direction, seeing Korey rush down the stairs in a hurry._

"Hilda’s right! And... is that the mercenary from earlier?"  _Kyo exclaimed, seeing a green clothed Celestrian following Korey._

"Korey, wait for Ion... Korey run too fast for Ion...!"  _Ion exclaimed, feeling like he was running out of breath._  "Sorry Ion, I'm too much in a hurry to get down these flights of stairs that my feet can't stop me now!"  _Korey yelled back, as Ion sighed and continued to follow him down the stairs._

"Doesn't seem like he's attacking him, just merely following him..."  _Demetria noted, after hearing the chatter above them._ "I dunno about you guys, but I’m certainly loving the little Brouni that’s chasing after them!"  _Keiko chirped, as the girls' attention turned to the black haired Brouni carrying his possessions._

"Can't those two... learn how to- hoooo, slow down?!"  _Bortos grumbled, trying to make sure he keeps his bags from opening up. Hilda had to wonder what happened with Korey while they were shopping, this clearly does not explain much to them at all._ _After leaping down from the last batch of stairs, and waiting for a bit to catch his breath, letting Ion and Bortos catch up, the girls approached Korey, seeing him flinch upon seeing them._

"S-Sorry I’m late, girls!"  _Korey apologized, as Hilda crossed her arms._ "You should be! Explain why that mercenary is with you-"

"Hilda, wait,"  _Demetria interrupted the white haired harbinger._  "that wound on his chest wasn’t there the last time we saw him."  _She pointed at Ion's chest, and though Ion quickly looks downward, he grabs his robe in an attempt to hide it._

"Oh my... what happened to you?"  _Kyo inquired, as the male Celestrian tried to find the words._ "W-Well,"  _he began._  "I was looking for Korey, when I bumped into a Harbinger with black hair and red eyes, yelling that he wanted to kill me for bumping into him."

_Hilda gasps, as Korey easily hears her and turns in her direction._  "Hilda, is something the matter?"  _Korey inquired, seeing Hilda quickly look away from him._

"I-It’s nothing..."  _She uttered, hearing Kyo sigh and place her hand on her hip._ "It’s not 'nothing' if you clearly know something about it."  _The violet haired Celestrian argued, easily seeing through the little lie she was trying to hide, causing Hilda to flinch._

"Do you know that person that Celestrian is talking about?"  _Demetria inquired, seeing all sorts of eyes lock onto her from her guild members and from Ion. She takes a few steps to sit on the staircase, sighing to herself before looking up at her listeners._

"...That’s the man who I had dated long before he dumped me due to the incident I told you before. His name is Byron."  _Hilda explained._

"Byron?"  _Korey began, a bit surprised upon making the connection himself._  "So that’s the name of the guy who chased Ion and broke up with you?"  _He continued, as Hilda nodded in response._

"I was afraid of having to mention his name, because he shows up like a bad dream you just can't forget..."  _Hilda ranted, soon having her eyes form tears. Korey's face soon turned into one of worry, sitting on the same stair case and placed an arm around Hilda, who soon turned to him and started crying onto his shoulder._

"It’ll be alright Hilda. I know lingering on the past still hurts, but I know you can move on from it. Me and the others will be there to cheer you up when you're down..."  _Korey comforted, soon hugging the crying girl in his arms. Keiko and Demetria walk up to Hilda to try and give comfort to their friend._

"Yeah, it’ll be okay, Hilda!"  _Keiko reassured, placing her hand on Hilda's back._  "Just let those tears out, girl..."  _Demetria sighed, joining Korey in hugging Hilda in an attempt to comfort her. As this goes on, Bortos approaches the female Celestrian._

"Does this... usually happen when this Byron person gets mentioned?"  _He inquired, as Kyo shook her head and placed her head on her hand, with a worried expression on her face._  "No, this is the first time we’ve seen her break down like this."  _She explained, looking to the Brouni as she spoke._

"We should give her a few minutes to calm down. Relationship issues can't be solved very easily..."  _Kyo added, deciding to sit down urging Ion to sit down as well. The others were silent as they listened to the sound of Hilda's crying and the reassuring words from Korey._

_Bortos couldn't help but reflect on the words Korey spoke to him earlier..._   "Seeing people in pain, or alone without a guild for them to turn to is like ignoring a person crying for help."  _Korey's words began to replay in his mind._

"I want to be able to put smiles on their faces - make them live their lives like one big happy family. That’s the kind of guild I want to see myself leading."  _These words... were those Korey's true thoughts on what his guild would be like to him? Bortos just sat there and let himself contemplate on the very words he just replayed in his mind. In a way, Korey was surprising more people with his actions, even if his words might not be sway them originally._

_Such a strange, yet comfortable person to be around._

_Eventually, Hilda soon wipes away a tear from her eye, and Korey separates himself from the hug, looking into her eyes as she did the same for him. Her eyes... they held fear and sadness within them. The eyes of somebody who needs to have someone better mend their broken life..._

"Feeling better, Hilda?"  _Korey finally inquired._ "Y-Yes..."  _She nodded, as Demetria pulls away from her hug as well._  "Thanks, Korey, Keiko, and Demetria..."

"You’re welcome!"  _Keiko beamed, giving Hilda her casual happy-go-lucky smile._ "Us girls have your back, Hilda. And we have such a caring guild leader, as well, who you can turn to for help."  _Hilda smiled at Demetria's words, as her eyes catch the black haired Brouni._

"Sorry you had to see that, sir... May I ask who you and the other Celestrian are?"  _She asked, as Bortos perked up upon being talked to. He cleared his throat before speaking up._

"The name’s Bortos. I’m the guy who healed Ion over here from Byron's attack."  _Bortos motioned to Ion, who quickly get's flustered._

"H-Hello. Ion is... Ion..."  _Ion introduced himself, stuttering a bit as he tries to speak._

"Pleased to meet you. I’m Kyo."  _The violet haired Celestrian began._

"Hilda."  _The white haired harbinger briefly introduced herself._  "I’m Keiko!"  _The brown haired Therian chirped._

"And I’m Demetria."  _Demetria introduced herself, before placing her hand on Beta, panting as she ruffled his fur._  "This is my hound, Beta."  _She continued, urging him to sniff the Brouni and male Celestrian._

_The gray hound soon approaches the Brouni, sniffing his hand, and a little bit of his face, before doing the same with Ion, wagging his tail as soon as Ion slowly, but reassuringly, petted Beta, as the hound panted like a dog. Korey chuckled at the sight._

"Seems like Beta likes our new recruits."  _He beamed, Keiko immediately rushing into his bubble space upon hearing recruits, making him jump a little bit._  "Oooh, they’re recruits?!"  _She questioned, as Korey pushed her out of his bubble space before talking to her._

"You heard me, Keiko. These two will be joining us a guild members of the Lux Guild."  _Korey explained so that the others can hear him._

"Sweet. We’ve been lacking in males."  _Kyo chuckled, as a blush quickly comes onto Korey's face, turning his head in Kyo's direction._

"What the hell does that suppose to mean, Kyo?!"  _Korey exclaimed, as Kyo bursts into laughter, hearing Hilda giggle a bit. Keiko and Demetria chuckled at Korey, as Korey tries to hide his face._

"Oh, y-yeah... Ion remembered something..."  _Ion gasped, almost forgetting the sole reason why he went looking for Korey in the first place._

"Remembered something? Like what?"  _Keiko asked, as Ion placed his hands on his legs, not caring whether his scar was revealed or not._

"Ion's old mercenary team planning ambush Korey and friends in labyrinth."  _Ion explained, getting Korey to perk up in surprise._ "I-Is that true?"  _Hilda questioned._

"Yes. Ion don’t know numbers of mercenaries, since Ion fled to try and warn friends of Korey, but they plan ambush regardless whether or not Ion is there to assist them."  _Ion explained, as Korey and the others acknowledge the ambush factor._

"Seems like something we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for."  _Korey grunts, not liking the mere idea of ambushes in general._  "Come on, Hilda. Give me your hand."  _He extends a hand, and Hilda obliges by placing her hand on his, as Korey helped her stand up._

_He could have sworn he noticed a blush forming on Hilda's cheeks, but pointing out probably would not be the wisest case in this scenario, so he shuts himself up before he even makes that mistake._  "We need to meet up with the Angelward Guild at the labyrinth’s entrance. Let’s go!"  _Korey commanded, as the rest of his guild members stand up and soon follow behind him as they make their way to the labyrinth's entrance._

"Damn it all, where the hell can Ion possibly have run off to?!"  _Charon grunts, kicking aside a twig in a rage._ "You should’ve kept an eye on him, moron!"  _Verica shouted, as the dark brown haired harbinger turned to face her._

"Hey, don’t blame the Harbinger of Death that he can’t multi-task whenever he pleases!"  _He argued, bringing up his personification again. Sheesh, talk about an unlucky day. First another guild comes and kicks their ass while they question why the Lux Guild was powerful for being mere novices, and now they lost one of their members. What else could today **possibly**  bring?!_

"Me hear someone approach door!"  _Mislav exclaims, as his Therian ears twitch, picking up the sound of movement near the door, making everyone turn to face the door, seeing a black haired Harbinger enter through the door. He looks at the mercenaries with curiosity, before dismissing them and made his way to the flight of stairs, feeling his feet come across some wet grass._

"Hey, you there!"  _Charon yelled at him, causing the other Harbinger to stop in place._  "What's your name, and have you seen a red and orange haired Celestrian male?"  _He inquired, wishing to know if he had seen their missing member._

"The name's Byron. So what if I know where your missing member is? All I know is that I ran into that fucking bitch nearly an hour ago."  _Byron growled, turning his head to look at the dark brown haired Harbinger's direction._

"That's because we need to know where he is! Have you seen him?!"  _Radha questions, making Byron growl even more._

"Well, you can fucking forget looking for him. I’m pissed off as all hell right now."  _He grunts, kicking the ground as he spoke._  "And do you know what I do when I’m angry...?"  _Byron asks the four of them._

"Byron make friends?"  _Mislav questioned, getting several glares from his mercenary buddies. Byron smirks, before taking out his scythe and turns around simultaneously, pointing his scythe at them._

"I destroy anyone who gets in my way!"  _Byron snarled, as everybody gasps in surprise upon seeing Byron point his weapon at them._

_Verica gulps, getting incredibly worried._  "T-This guy is seriously angry... our employers might be in deep trouble if he finds them."  _She spilled, as Byron blinks for a moment, before smirking, showing off his sharp teeth._

"Employers... so you lot are a bunch of mercenaries, eh?"  _Byron concludes, overhearing Verica's little comment. Charon grunts and prepares himself for battle._ "Why does that matter to you?!"  _He questioned, as the black haired harbinger began to chuckle like a madman._

"Oh, nothing, really. I'm just glad I found some targets I can cause some destruction to... Cause I’ll be glad to give ‘em hell to their front doorstep!"  _Byron explained, preparing himself for something._

"Miasma, come to me and mold yourself into armor!"  _The black haired Harbinger yelled, as little circles formed from the air starts surrounding him, acting like some kind of armor. Charon takes out his scythe, preparing himself to counter whatever Byron has in store._

"I won’t let you approach them!"  _Charon declared, as he urges everyone else to get their weapons out._ "Too bad, fuckers! Maybe ya shouldn’t have crossed paths with me to begin with!"  _Byron taunts, charging straight at them._

"Now, suffer!"

\--------------------------------------

_Outside the labyrinth, the Angelward Guild sat there in wait, as Drayce paced back and forth._  "What's keeping them so long, we've waited for nearly two hours..."  _Drayce pondered, checking the sky for any sign of the sun's position._

_Kamali looks up at Drayce._  "Maybe something happened along the way over here?"  _He questioned._

"Perhaps. Though we must wait for them still, in case they do come..."  _Zohar commented, once again, barely showing any signs of movement, apart from a few times he blinks his eyes._

"Sorry we’re late!"  _A familiar voice called out to them, getting the entire attention of the Angelward Guild, seeing Korey and his guild approaching them. Kamali and Blayke stood up from where they sat, as Zohar turns his attention to the approaching guild._

"Things happened and I ended up getting two recruits for my guild... but we're here now!"  _Korey explained, taking a deep breath after stopping right before Drayce._ "Recruits, eh?"  _Drayce questioned, surprised that all the wait was for two new recruits._

"That’s correct! The name’s Bortos!"  _Bortos introduced himself, catching Drayce's attention._ "A-And Ion... is Ion."  _Ion followed up with his own introduction._

"Ion...?"  _Kamali questioned._  "Wasn’t he with the band of mercenaries before?"

_Ion nodded his head, confirming his question._  "Ion used to be mercenary. Ion mercenary no more. Ion turned over new leaf, and is now with gentleman Korey and friends."  _Ion explained to the guild before him._

"Well, pleased to meet you two. I’m Blayke, this is Drayce, Kamali, and Zohar."  _Blayke introduced the Angelward Guild swiftly to the new recruits of the Lux Guild._ "Pleased to meet you."  _Zohar spoke, nodding his head to signify that he at least had some movement within him._

"Same here."  _Drayce beamed, as he walks over to Korey._  "And Korey, we got the jewelry box for you. Here you go."

_Drayce hands the box to Korey, as the fencer places it in the bag on his person._

"Thanks Drayce."  _Korey thanked, before placing an arm on his hip as he had something to say to his friends._  "We have to be careful once we’re in the labyrinth, cause the mercenaries we ran into are planning an ambush."  _He warned, as Kamali and Drayce raised an eyebrow._

"Are you sure Ion isn’t lying to you?"  _Blayke inquired, making sure that this wasn't some sort of undercover trick the mercenaries planned out._ "Ion never lies. Ion always honest, like true gentleman."  _Ion insisted, seeming to be proof enough for Drayce._

"Heh, I’m starting to like this guy. If he’s sure it’s true, best to believe him and proceed with caution."  _Drayce beamed, as Blayke let out a sigh._

"...Right."  _Blayke nodded, making sure his weapon was on his person._  "Let’s go. We need to head to the second floor."  _Hilda insisted, as they enter the labyrinth's first floor._

_As they travel through the first floor, Hilda tells Korey to make a right turn, and notes that the room should lead them to the second floor. Korey nods, and presses his hand against the door, before flinching and taking a step back._

"What's wrong?"  _Zohar questioned, as Korey couldn't hold back a gulp._  "I-I sense something... different, on the other side of this door."  _He commented, slowly opening the door, and gasping at what he saw inside._

"What, what is it?"  _Kyo inquired, but Korey couldn't muster a response. Ion soon tried to peak through the door, only for him to gasp back in surprise._ "I-Impossible...!"  _Ion uttered, as Hilda opened the door fully, soon joining in the surprised look everybody soon made._

_There was blood..._

_And among the red stains the grass now wore..._

_Were four bodies, lying on the ground. Motionless, and most likely dead._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drayce, Zohar, Blayke, and Kamali belong to TheShatteredRose.


	9. Vengeance... for Fallen Mercenaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four bodies were discovered in the labyrinth. Four familiar bodies the Lux Guild encountered earlier that same day... While the reality sets in for Ion, the cause needed to be found, and fast. They may be running out of time as they speak...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this one being a while to upload. Wanted this one to be a bit longer, but Nexus and its darn post-game boss keeps wanting to divert my attention, so I might have to spend a few more days hoping to take it down before I focus on planning for the Nexus saga and preparing to write more chapters for stories I need to get to.

_Everyone was dead silent as they walked into the room, trying to calculate what exactly happened that caused them to witness such a sight. The trails of blood seemed to originate from the bodies, but with the bodies facing down onto the grass, it's hard to tell what they exactly suffered from. Zohar glanced at the bodies, trying to see what the cause of death was from afar._

"Radha... Mislav... Charon... Verica..."  _Ion quavered, struggling to even walk more than five feet further than where he previously stepped._

 _Korey couldn't blame Ion for being surprised. He didn't expect this outcome to happen, either..._ "Who could have done this...?"  _Hilda questioned, clutching her hands to her arms._

"Bortos, we need to make sure they're stable!"  _Korey commanded, as Bortos blinked at him._  "But they're strangers to you, man! Are you seriously gonna try and save these mercenary's lives, even when they will likely be back for you?!"

"I refuse to sit here, and ignore any possibility of saving them! The sooner, the better, as they say."  _Korey argued. Bortos sighed, shrugging his shoulders. The kid's gotta learn one of these days that saving everyone he comes across is just impossible..._

"Fine, I'll start with the one with the blue scythe."  _Bortos groaned, placing leaving his belongings with Kyo as he makes his way over to the man with a blue scythe, flipping him over and checking his body for injuries._ "Hmmm..."  _He pondered, noticing tons of cuts on his body, though the blood seems to have dried itself, leaving red marks on his skin._

"Is Charon alright?"  _Ion asked, as Bortos continued his investigation. He placed his ear where his chest is, trying to hear if his heart was still beating..._

 _He let out a sigh of relief once he heard his heart beat, as Charon's chest lifted up and down, looking over to see that he was at least breathing through his nose. Seems like he must've fallen asleep somehow._  "This one still has some energy left, but he's been knocked into sleep through some means."  _Bortos explained, as the fiery haired Celestrian let out a huge sigh of relief as the Brouni turned to Korey, who knelt down beside him._

"I'm gonna heal him of this ailment. While I go check on the other mercenaries, see if you guys can get any information out of him about what happened here."  _Bortos spoke, as Korey nodded in understanding._

"Right. Let us know once you're done inspecting them."  _Korey replied, as the Brouni grabs a herb from his bag, and places it onto Charon, casting a refreshing breeze through his body, grabbing the herb and made his way over to investigate the next body._

"Uuuugh..."  _Charon groaned._  "Harbinger of... death... shall not, fall to..."  _He uttered, turning over and grunting as he tried sitting up._

"Charon! Charon, it Ion!"  _Ion exclaimed, placing his hand on the harbinger's shoulder, as he slowly opens his eyes to see Ion looking at him._

"I-Ion...? Is that you?"  _The dark brown haired harbinger asked, making sure he wasn't still dreaming._

"Yes, it Ion! Ion here with friends!"  _Friends? Just what did Ion do in the span that he was missing? Charon looks to his side, letting out a gasp as he noticed Korey and his guild, alongside the four males that appeared to help them before._

"W-Why are... you here?"  _Charon questioned._  "Can't you see-"  _he coughed mid-sentence, using his free arm to cover his mouth, before glancing back at the fencer again,_  "the situation we're in?"

"What situation, we thought you were dead! Not our fault we don't know what's going on!"  _Hilda declared, as the male Harbinger groaned, leaning on Ion for support._

"We were... holding him off so well, when he caught... us all off guard with a few more members of his guild..."  _Charon spoke, taking deep breaths as he didn't want to risk moving too much. Korey raised an eyebrow when Charon brought up 'members of his guild'._

"Members? Who exactly did you face?"  _Korey asked, probably regretting his decision to know what the answer might be..._

"B-Byron..."  _Charon grunted, as both Korey and Hilda simultaneously gasped. Guess that explains why there were cuts similar to Ion's earlier..._

"After he mopped the floor with us, I was on the verge of falling asleep, when I overheard his plan to go... after the Celestrians that hired us."  _Charon continued, feeling Ion's arm placed on his back. Drayce grunts, looking at where the flight of stairs were._

"Then he intends to stop us from opening that jewelry box!"  _he spoke, not liking where the situation was heading. Korey turned to face Bortos, who had tapped his shoulder._

"I hate to say it, but the other mercenaries don't show signs of ailment. Seems like they died trying to protect Charon... their wounds were to severe."  _Bortos explained what he found from searching the other bodies._

"No... Not Ion's old friends... Wahaaaa!"  _Ion quavered, soon beginning to cry, placing his head on Charon's shoulder._

"Why... why did Byron kill Ion's old friends? Ion wanted... old friends to join Lux Guild, but..."  _He whimpered, as Charon simply looked at him with worry._ "Ion's mercenary friends were all Ion had left of previous life... And now, they gone..."

 _Kamali, wanting to at least give Ion comfort, patted his back alongside Charon. Korey growled and punched the ground out of frustration, before taking some deep breaths._ "That Byron guy is as merciless as any monster! I won't forgive him for this!"  _He declared, trying to keep his cool._

"To think he had the gall to do this..."  _Hilda uttered to herself, wondering if Byron is slowly becoming less of the man she once dated before. After calming down Ion, Charon separated from Ion, lying back against a tree._

"Just leave me here... If my group is going down, I might as well go down with them..."  _Charon groaned, already giving up on any sort of second chances he might have had. But Ion wasn't going to let that happen._

"Charon can't! Ion still here, Charon can still mend for downfall of old friends!"  _Ion encouraged, getting a glare from the harbinger._

"And what would you know about faults? If you hadn't been so distracted the first time we fought them, we wouldn't be in this situation!"  _Charon recalled, vaguely remembering seeing Ion hiding behind Radha's shield, looking at someone in particular._

"But sitting here and waiting to die certainly isn't one way to make it up for your fallen comrades. It's like dishonoring your family for not doing what they told you."  _Blayke argued, quickly shutting down Charon's reasons to continue acting like this._

"Blayke's right,"  _Korey began._  "the more we idly chat, the more time it gives Byron the chance to strike down the Celestrians we're after!"  _He noted, extending a hand towards Charon._

"Come on, Charon. Join the Lux Guild. You can live a happier life with us than being a mercenary..."  _Korey spoke, not using methods like begging or pleading. Just full on honesty._

"And what good will come of that? Seeing more people I care about-"  _Charon started to argue back, but stops himself mid-sentence, looking at the ground as if trying to recall something._ "What's wrong?"  _Hilda asked._

"...Now that I think back on it, nobody other than Ion was accepting my persona of the Harbinger of Death."  _Charon began rambling._  "Ion wasn't great at speaking, so I thought that through that, I can get him to smile, but as he grew up, that personification I had placed upon myself was getting to my head..."

 _Charon sits up further against the tree, resting his legs and placed an arm over some of his wounds._ "Nobody else cared in the entire group of mercenaries I had been traveling with... And, had sweet Verica not been taken away from me, I could have had a better life."  _He sighed, afraid somebody he cared for passed away. Charon really liked her, from the way his voice quavered upon mentioning her name..._

"Doesn't stop you from having one with a guild like the Lux Guild."  _Zohar commented, getting the Harbinger to tilt his head in confusion._ "Zohar correct,"  _Ion concurred, sitting next to Charon._

"Ion felt like Ion not do good at mercenary business, so that why Ion ran away. Ion went to find nice gentleman who protected me."  _The Celestrian continued, placing an arm around Charon and giving him a comfortable smile._ "Charon, Ion want to avenge old friends. Charon free to help Ion and friends."

_What was it that got Charon so invested in listening to the only person that he was able to fully understanding how he truly feels inside? Cause honestly, now was not the time to be in his personification of himself, or does he want to lose anyone else, deep inside... The sheer fact that Ion is willing to avenge his old mercenary pals was just enough to put a smile on Charon's face._

"I guess you know how to make a man smile, Ion..."  _Charon chuckles, as Bortos made his way over to Charon._  "Does that mean you'll join us, Mr. Charon?"  _The Brouni inquired._

"Count me in. I'm going to give that Harbinger a piece of my mind!"  _Charon nodded, soon getting Korey to smile. Another guild member for the team. He's going to have to remind himself to visit Egar with them if they want to be official guild members, though._

"Then I might as well patch you up before we go confront this Byron person."  _Bortos noted, taking out a herb and applies some healing powder on it, dabbing the herb on some of the wounds and injuries. As that was going on, Korey stood up and looked at the corpses of the remaining mercenaries._

"So, what do we do with these?"  _Korey inquired, unsure what to do with them._ "Well, if we start burying them, we'll already lose the Celestrians."  _Drayce pondered, grabbing the bag of items from Verica and tosses it over to Ion, who catches the bag._

"Besides, it won't be long to tell the guard who watches the chickens that some bodies need to be buried. I'm sure he won't mind doing it for us."  _He added, knowing that by the time they're finished with the treasure business, monsters would likely chow down on the corpses. Best to let somebody else already down here know something's amiss._

_Hilda sighed, clasping her hands together and stared at the leaves above them, beginning to recall something Byron told her long ago... Right when he dumped her for that female Necromancer. Her head would not let this go, yet she desperately wanted to forget that day so badly..._

"I thought we had something! Why did you have to go and do this to me?!"  _Hilda's own words replayed in her head, beginning to visualize the tavern, so lively that she and Byron had to go to a separate room to be able to hear each other._

"We had something, alright! But protecting someone over an F.O.E that could have likely killed you? That's just out of line, girl!"  _Byron yelled, crossing his arms._ "Don't get me wrong, this is just to protect you-"

"Protect me?!"  _Hilda interrupted, despising Byron's so called use of 'protect'._  "If you  _actually_  cared, you would have taken it upon yourself to actually protect me, instead of dumping me and then proceed to find another girl worth your time, alongside replacing me!"  _She stormed, as the male Harbinger rubbed his head._

"You're seriously getting on my nerves, Hilda!"  _He snapped back, giving Hilda sharp glare._  "This is why I can't stand ya sometimes! You're just too weak!"

 _Hilda blinked, before finally breaking down in anger._  "You're the one who's too weak, Byron! I hate you!"  _She raged, storming out of the room and ran out of the tavern, before coming back to reality, looking at her hand, clutching it into a fist for a few seconds, before placing her hand back to her side._

"...Is that why he's trying to prove me wrong? Because I called him weak?"  _She thought to herself, perking her head up when she noticed Charon walking past her._

"The second floor is just ahead. The Celestrians shouldn't be too far from the entrance, since they're located near a collection point to the left of the stairs."  _Charon explained, pointing to the stairs with his scythe._

"Got it. Let's go, everyone!"  _Korey nodded, motioning for everyone to follow him and Charon, starting to walk up the flight of stairs._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Not having her coffin weapons as a means of shield from the sunlight, the small Necromancer girl was able to stretch herself out in the sun, her light blue Celestrian skin contrasting the black coat and hood, having horns that have yellow stripes on them. Some of her hair was either a dark shade of pink, or likely gray hair. Despite having chains around certain parts on her clothes, she didn't really mind it._

_She turned to the taller Celestrian beside her,  a smile forming on her face as she gazed at his red eyes and gray hair, placing her hand in his gloved hand once she stopped stretching. He turned to face her, soon beaming as the two shared a short kiss, as the girl soon turned to face the door._

"Something wrong, dear?"  _The male Celestrian inquired, as the girl's eye squinted, seeing the the door open before them._  "Someone's approaching... no, more like a guild is approaching."  _She responded, as the man beside her turned to see someone approaching them._

"There ya are! Ya sure don't hide yourselves well enough!"  _Byron grinned, as the small Necromancer girl crossed her arms._

"Not like we needed to hide. We live here, after all..."  _She groaned, not bothering to justify their means of hiding._

"Oh is that so, dear? You're not quite the smart little girl, you know?"  _A more mature feminine voice spoke behind Byron, as a a blonde haired Necromancer walked to the Harbinger. Her skin color was brown, having darkened pupils and light purple eyes, with her arms crossed, likely to keep her cloth on her at all times, with chains floating over her shoulders._

"We're more older than any of you young'uns, though. Don't pull that kind of shit on us..."  _The male Celestrian spoke, dismissing the comment towards the small Necromancer girl._

"Hah, is that so? Ya sure don't bear the proof of that!"  _Byron scoffed, tapping his foot and silently wondering to himself if they're just trying to stall their demise._

"Byron, dear, why don't we swiftly end them off?"  _The blonde girl suggested, as he grinned back when he looked at brown skinned Celestrian._ "Heh, you're speaking my kind of style, Mervi!"  _He chuckled, taking out his scythe from behind him._

"Just who are you?"  _The pink haired Celestrian deadpanned, causing Byron to blink back to the small Necromancer._ "Ya don't know who we are? Well, since ya kindly asked..."  _Byron questioned, before sighing and shrugging, uttering to himself that it couldn't be helped._

 _Byron motions to the woman who he called Mervi earlier._ "This is my girlfriend, Mervi. She's a Necromancer, just like you, pink haired girl."  _He swiftly introduced her, before motioning to the other Necromancer, who had white skin, white irises, and white hair, as his clothes were bathed in black and a darker shade of red, with a gray belt going over a black colored belt._

"Revlis here is another Necromancer. Why two Necromancers? Because fuck you, that's why!"  _Byron spoke, soon motioning to a small Brouni girl and a Therian boy with a dark red scarf over his mouth._

_The Therian had a black hound who had purple highlights. The boy himself had black hair and dark blue eyes, with a lighter shade of blue from his eye color, wearing brown shorts and carried a bow to the side of him. The Brouni girl had pink glasses, red hair, and velvet eyes, along with brown skin, holding a book by her side, and having a bag that's stuffed to the brim with flowers and herbs._

"The small girl is named Lydia and the Therian boy is named Yorick. There, happy now?"  _Byron sighed, wanting to get to the task at hand._

"Yes, now leave. We don't have time to speak with you."  _The small Necromancer motioned._

"Sheesh, don't have to act so rude, ya know? I just came here for a little chat!"  _Byron groaned, about to step forward and strike at the two Celestrians._

"Oh no, you don't, Byron!"  _An all too familiar voice reached Byron's ears, stopping him from progressing, and turning to face where the door was opened, blinking in surprise._  "What?!"  _He growled, as the other members of his guild turned to face the two guilds that entered the room._

 _Among the two guilds, he saw Hilda, Korey, Ion, and Charon - three of them he had met today, leaving Hilda one of the few people he had not seen in quite some time._ "You...!"  _Byron growled, making his way back to his guild members._

"Byron! We won't let you get away with this!"  _Hilda yelled, as Lydia placed her hands over her own mouth, before deciding to run towards Hilda._

"Hilda!"  _The red haired girl yelled, running to Hilda with open arms, before being cut off by the black hound._  "Gaaah!"  _Lydia jumped, coming to a halt before the hound could stop her himself._

"Don't even think about that, Lydia! She's your enemy, not your friend!"  _Yorick reminded the Botanist, as she turned to face Yorick._ "B-B-But..."

"Get back here, or you'll suffer for trying to betray us!"  _The Therian boy threatened. Lydia turned to look at Hilda. Korey blinked, silently gasping as he saw her eyes filled with sorrow - the same kind of eyes Hilda had earlier today. Lydia tilted her head to the ground, making her way back to her guild members._

"Now that's just not right! What kind of guild keeps friends hostage in their own guild?"  _Drayce questioned, feeling rather ticked at the underhanded trick the Rover pulled on Lydia._

 _Byron simply bursted into laughter._  "That's the Dazard Guild for ya! I make the rules because I know what's best for everyone!"  _He declared, seeming to have fun being in total control of his guild._

"Yeah right! I still can't forgive you for what you did to me long ago, Byron! You  _don't_  know what's best for everyone, you only care about yourself!"  _Hilda growled, as the black haired Harbinger sighed, shaking his head._

"What, ya still lingering on that? Please, you're never gonna get stronger if ya let it get to your dumb head of yours!"  _Byron argued, pointing to his head with his free hand to emphasize his point._

"What did you say?!"  _The white haired girl blinked, starting to get rather annoyed at Byron's act._ "Exactly what I said!"  _Byron groaned, deciding to do something to further emphasize his point._

"Ooooh, are ya getting mad that you're gonna have your pathetic guild leader tear me to pieces? Oooooohoohoho, I'm so scaaaaaared~"  _Byron jested, seeming to have his plan work as Hilda started to walk forward, before being stopped by Korey._

"Knock it off, Byron! People like you are just the lowest scum on the planet!"  _Korey spoke in Hilda's place. Byron glared at the fencer, placing his hand on his hip._

"So what? Everybody sees climbing Yggdrasil as nothing but their goals! Soon, it'll corrupt ya, and you'll eventually replace someone when they're weak!"  _Byron ranted, as Keiko and Demetria stepped forward to defend Korey._

"Korey is not going to be like those other people!"  _Keiko declared, pointing her weapon at Byron._  "Because unlike the others, his goal is far more beneficial to all of us on his guild."  _Demetria added._

"What you're doing is comparing a golden apple from the rest of the rotten potatoes that 'shine' as bright as gold!"  _Charon continued._ "Geez Louise, ya guys suck. You don't understand the natural order of things."  _Byron sighed._

"I'm getting tired of hearing all this yapping, boss! Let's just kill these guys, then the Celestrians behind us are next!"  _Yorick urged, wanting to continue on with the next floor already._

"A valid point, my dear Yorick~"  _Mervi concurred, giggling mildly to herself, as Byron turned his head back to face the opposing guilds._ "Heh, ya heard it here, folks. Now that three of my worst enemies are here, I can finally get to the fun part!"  _Byron concludes the dragged out conversation, getting into his battle position, as the guild members behind him took out their weapons._

 _Lydia and Revlis hesitated in taking out their weapons for a few seconds._  "This is the part where we kill ya! Ahaaaahahahahahaaa!"  _The black haired harbinger yelled, laughing like a madman._

"Talk about arrogant. Come, Theodore."  _Zohar commented, snapping his fingers and called for the Wraith, appearing right in front of the Necromancer._

"Ion and friends will strike down bad man for killing Ion and Charon's mercenary friends!"  _Ion grunts, taking out his Shaman cards from his pockets. Hilda took a few seconds, before looking at the two guilds beside her._

"Hey, guys?"  _She began, as Korey and Drayce looked at her._ "Yeah?"  _The boys said simultaneously, as the white haired Harbinger motioned for the two guilds to gather to discuss something, whispering only so the two guilds can hear her plan._

"Are ya serious? Come on, I don't have all day!"  _Byron groaned, tapping his foot as he crossed his arms._

"Wraith Explosion."

"Huh?!"  _Byron blinked, hardly getting the chance to turn around, as he, Yorick, and Mervi both get launched forward, landing onto the ground, before getting up. Seemed like the pink haired Necromancer planned a sneak attack when they weren't looking._

"Why you little-!"  _Byron glared, getting his weapon and attempted to charge at her._  "Now, get them!"  _Korey yelled, swiftly getting Byron's attention, having to force his target of aggression as Korey's sword collided with his purple scythe._

"Take this!"  _Keiko slashes at Yorick, causing him to take a few steps back as he gets hit, trying to close the gap by shooting an arrow at her, nearly avoiding it as the sharp end nicked at her cheek, and caused her to flinch back a bit, before slashing at the approaching black hound._

"Haah!"  _Demetria shot at Mervi, who blocks the shots with her floating coffins, though was unaware of the opening she left herself with, allowing Charon to strike her._

"Grrrr... come, my lovely wraith!"  _Mervi commanded, snapping her fingers, and summoned a wraith of her own by her side. Revlis did the same, despite not saying anything. Seems like he was just following orders._

 _Korey turned his head to face the Brouni beside him._  "Bortos, remember the plan!" He said. "Yeah, I got it, I got it!"  _Bortos replied, motioning for him to get going._

 _As Korey went for the blonde Necromancer, Bortos opened his bag, and took out a bottle, containing some black smoke._  "Dark Smoke!"  _Bortos yelled, throwing the bottle at the front row of the Dazard Guild's formation. The bottle exploded, causing the Harbinger, Rover, and Necromancer to cough as they tried to shoo the smoke away, unable to see very well._

"Ah, fuck! Can't see!"  _Byron yelled, as Lydia knew what to do next, grabbing into her bag and throwing her flowers into the air near the blinded guild members._

"Refreshing Herb!"  _Lydia chanted, as the flowers soon glowed and healed their blind ailment in the blink of an eye. Little did she know, she just fell for an endless loop, as Bortos threw another bottle of Dark Smoke at the same row of people._

"Oh come on! I  _just_  healed them!"  _Lydia complained, having to get some herbs from her bag, repeating the same process as before._ "Hey, I'm just told what I have to do!"  _Bortos shrugged, preparing himself for a tiring process._

 _Hilda and Byron charged at each other, as their scythes clashed with each others._  "So, what's your goal in doing all of this? To prove that you're not as weak as I called you out to be?!"  _She asked, wanting to know his purpose for not only killing the other mercenaries, but trying to get away with killing the two Celestrians._

"Heh, perceptive little sneak, aren't ya?"  _He simply smirked at her question._  "The more I fight, the more stronger I get. And when I finally kill ya, is when I finally prove I'm right!"  _Byron divulged, seeing as she'll likely forget that once she dies._

"In your damned dreams, Byron!"  _Hilda yelled, seeing Korey approach Byron and lets him strike Byron, as Byron gets blinded upon being hit. Drayce finishes setting up a bunker, as Ion chanted Ruinous Prayer, raising the party's attack._

"Fireball!"

"Lightning!"  _Kamali launched a fire spell, while Kyo launched an electric spell at Yorick and Mervi, making direct contact with them. They attempt to retaliate back, but end up missing due to being blind from Bortos' Dark Smoke._

 _Lydia starts taking deep breaths, getting real tired of doing nothing but healing._  "How many... bottles of Dark Smoke do you have?!"  _She questioned as she cured Byron, Yorick and Mervi._

"A lot more than you can ever hope to have, woman! Hiyaah!"  _Bortos responded, as he throws yet another bottle at the front row. Lydia sighs, and sits on the ground, not sure how to respond to the situation she ended up getting herself into._

"I don't get what's going on... Whenever I heal, he keeps blinding them!"  _Lydia groaned, closing her bag._

"...Something's amiss."  _Revlis began, as Lydia looked up to the Necromancer, tilting her head in confusion._  "What do you mean?"  _She inquired._

"It seems like Hilda ordered her friends not to hurt us... That's why we haven't had an attack sent our direction once. It's the only solution that's out there..."  _The white skinned Necromancer explained, quickly bringing back his wraith, despite it being re-summoned by Mervi._

"What are you doing?"  _Lydia asked, as the Necromancer did not respond, as Lydia took out her book and started reading it. It was the only thing she could really do to pass the time, and not contribute to the battle any further._

"Where's that healing remedy, Lydia dear?!"  _Mervi yelled, as she attempted to swing at Zohar, who merely blocked the attack with his own coffin, before striking back at her, causing her to flinch back._

"If only I wasn't blinded, I can tell where these bitches are!"  _Yorick declared, blindly aiming and misses Blayke, who strikes back with a counterattack of his own._ _Though it took a little while, Byron finds a Therica B in his bag, and proceeds to drink it, blinking a couple of times, finally able to see clearly once more, before he tosses the bottle away and charges at Korey, only to be intercepted by Hilda._

"Grrrr, you're so damn persistent!"  _Byron snarled._  "Why do you keep protecting that boy?! Is it because he's your new boyfriend or something?!"  _He queried, clueless why Hilda keeps protecting him a few times throughout their fight._

"How funny those words were coming from you, cause you failed to realize what we've been doing ever since this fight began!"  _Hilda grinned, launching Byron back, as he did a back flip and lands, taking only a few seconds to get up._ "Miasma Armor!"  _Hilda yelled, as tiny particles start forming in the air, before making their way to Hilda, radiating a black and red aura around her._

"Two can play at this game, woman! Mias-"  _Byron scoffed, as he attempted to do the same skill as she did, before feeling a quick slash strike him while he was caught off guard._  "Graaaah!"  _He screamed, feeling his body becoming numb._

"C-Can't... move!"  _Mervi groaned, trying to move her body, but is making no progress._ "Damn it all!"  _Yorick grunts, as the black hound looked at him in worry._

"Now's our chance! Strike those three down!"  _Blayke declared, not wanting to miss the opportunity._

_Zohar commanded Theodore to use Flame Bomb, as the wraith charged at the female Necromancer, inflating and turning red as it made its way over to her, exploding upon making contact with her. Ion, who had casted a Blaze Prayer earlier, soon chants Dance Oracle, ridding him of the prayer on him, and hitting Mervi, Yorick, and Byron with an almighty attack. Keiko slashes furiously at Yorick, hitting his hound when he dared to approach her._

_Demetria shot a few arrows at Yorick once the hound he had ran away, after being defeated. Korey, Charon, Hilda, and Drayce took turns slashing at Byron, as the black haired harbinger could not move, being forced to accept the hits thrown at him._  "Graaaah!"  _Byron yelled in pain... God, how damn persistent was Hilda to prove him wrong?_

"Look at them go..."  _The male Celestrian commented, seeing the co-ordination between the two guilds._  "Yeah. Those two Therians might be his great descendants after all..."  _The female Necromancer nodded, as a smile started to form on her face._

"Hurts, doesn't it? That's for nearly trying to kill Ion! And for dumping and replacing Hilda!"  _Korey yelled, getting one last slash at him, before letting the others do their thing._

"This is for killing Ion and Charon's old friends!"  _Ion screamed, slashing at Byron with a sharp card, letting out another sharp scream in pain._  "Aaaaaaagh! E-Enough of this! Lydia, heal us, or you're going to regret it!"

 _Lydia jumps upon hearing her name, rushing to heal Byron, Mervi, and Yorick. Byron covers his injuries, taking a deep breath as he attempted to remain calm._ "This isn't fair if the rest of my guild can't do shit with two inactive members!"  _Byron snarls, getting rather ticked off._

"Come on! We're going to town to recover! Move it!"  _He commanded, not wanting to hear anymore excuses._

"B-But Byron-!"  _Lydia began, before getting a sharp glare from Byron._  "I said move it! Do you want to end up like those mercenaries on the first floor?!"  _He snapped, causing the Brouni to shake her head out of fear._

"Then prepare the Ariadne Thread!"  _He commanded to the Brouni girl, as she looks at Hilda._  "S-Sorry, Hilda... but know that we have to follow orders, the next time we meet."  _She apologized, afraid of upsetting Byron again, as the black haired harbinger glanced at Hilda._

"It's ya lucky day, Hilda."  _He began, placing his scythe behind him._  "You and those two irksome boys can live another day... But don't think it will be for long. Cause I will make sure to cause mischief at every corner, when ya least expect it!"

_Byron begins to laugh maniacally,  as Lydia used the Ariadne Thread once the Dazard Guild gathered around her, teleporting them out of the labyrinth._ _Hilda let out a sigh, disappointed in herself for not getting her old guild members out of Byron's guild. There may be a more fortunate opportunity in the future, but she already missed hearing her old friends._

"That Byron... he's certainly gotten more edgier than before."  _She groaned, annoyed that Byron managed to change so drastically that he doesn't feel like the same person long ago. As they put their weapons away with the threat stopped, the two Celestrians stood up and approached the two guilds._

"I'm glad you two were unharmed..."  _Charon sighed with relief, hugging the taller Celestrian male._ "Worried about us, were you?"  _The man inquired, as Charon looked up at him._

"Well, you two are quite old, how can I  _not_  worry about you?"  _Charon replied, soon separating from the hug_ "I swear, you young'uns these days... always caring for the elderly."  _The small girl sighed, shrugging her shoulders._

"Pardon the intrusion,"  _Keiko interrupted,_  "but are you two Celestrians friends of me and my sister's ancestor?"  _the Therian inquired. Both of the Celestrians nodded in response to her question._ "My name's Amare."  _The Necromancer girl known as Amare introduced herself._

"And I am Altum."  _the gray haired Celestrian male spoke, with a small smile forming on his face._ "So you're the Celestrians the book told us about. It's not every day we get to see survivors of an era long before us."  _Drayce hummed, making it sound like this was a scenario he never thought he'd find himself in._

"Living for over a millennium isn't an easy feat, you know."  _Amare began, sighing as she glanced at her hair, gazing at some of the colorless strands of hair. Sadly, the hair was their only means of proof that they managed to live a very long time, but their constant bickering over their age seemed to get the point across._

"We've been waiting for the day we found any descendants of Caelum..." Altum  _began, soon looking over at the two brown skinned Therians._  "I'd never thought we'd have twin descendants, but looking at you two makes me feel like I've really become an old man."  _He continued, chuckling to himself a little bit, before shortly stopping himself._

"Have you brought the jewelry box?"  _Amare inquired, seeming to be in a hurry, despite the monotone delivery of her line. Korey reached into his bag and took out the box, handing it over to the small Necromancer. As he stands back a few feet from her, Korey could've sworn he saw a bit of a smile form upon Amare's face._

"It has been so long since I've last seen this particular box..."  _Amare giggled, looking at it almost like a playful child._ "It feels so nostalgic, yet it also brings some of the worst memories from the past."  _Altum added, feeling like he can almost pinpoint said terrible memories, but can't quite recall exactly due to his old age._

 _The pink haired Celestrian turned and looked up towards the older Celestrian._  "Altum, begin creating the ancient circle."  _Altum nods, heading to a wider area of the room, as he takes out a kit required for making circles, as he begins etching a huge circle, with various symbols and writing._

"What is this circle?" Kamali asked, curious about the writing and symbols being written on the ground. "It is a circle known only by the Celestrians of old. This circle is used for sealing an object with mana and a curse simultaneously."  _Amare responded, pacing around a completed half of the circle._

"The only problem is that it's also the only method of removing this sort of spell. I'm afraid the Celestrians of our time would only suffer had this box be left in their possession..."  _She sighed, showing some concern for the modern age of Celestrians._

"Interesting... Would it be possible to teach this to other Celestrians, then?"  _Drayce questioned._

 _The Celestrian's blue eye gazed at the Dragoon when he asked his question._  "Unfortunately, the book known for that spell has been lost into the gates of history. No one was smart enough to keep a copy somewhere, and that left me and Altum with the only ones who know this circle's existence."  _She simply responded, almost unfazed by the idiocy of the people of her time._

"Seems like it must've been quite a blow to the Celestrians back then..."  _Korey could only let out a sigh, no doubt ashamed that such knowledge couldn't be passed down any further. Though then again, if Byron wasn't an indication, there are bound to be others with evil intentions to make something incurable with this circle in mind... And the thought terrified him._

"It's done."  _Altum's voice called out, placing the staff in his pocket._ "Perfect. Let's begin..."  _Amare hummed, motioning for the others to stand back. She placed the box in the center of the circle, before moving away from it to stand inside the circle, likely indicated by a spot she and Altum are familiar with._

_Though he didn't have his translator on him, Drayce could make out bits of what side the two Celestrians stood upon. Amare, being a Necromancer and more familiar with curses, was to the northwest of the box. Altum was facing the opposite from her, guessing he was more familiar with magic and mana. If the two of them weren't alive, this box would have never been-_

_No, it was distracting to think about alternative possibilities. He tabled the thought, as everyone from both guilds stood in anticipation. Everyone waited with baited breath..._

"Maledicite antqiuis praeteritum..."  _Amare began speaking in a foreign tongue, as her side of the circle began to glow._ "Antiquis magicae antiquorum transiit..."  _Altum soon followed, as his side began glowing as well, contrasting with the pink half of the circle._

"Ecce sto si aliquis frangat juramentum Millennium..." _As Amare continued, the jewelry box began to glow, before its glow seemed to drain into the circle._ "Ut conteram de vetus mana antiquorum..."  _The box glowed again upon Altum speaking, before the same pattern repeated as last time. Was the circle... draining the box of the curse and magic that held it tight?_

 _The lines from Amare's side slowly drained from the box to where the Necromancer stood, as if sending the retrieved energy back to her._  "Most interesting..."  _Zohar mumbled to himself, doing his best to not interrupt the scene._

"Redi meae vis maeldictiones has convertet..."  _Amare continued chanting words, before her side filled up with light once more, before the opposing side mirrored exactly what Amare's side did seconds prior, soon fading into Altum._ "Redi mystici vias meas magicae..."

_Hilda, Ion, Charon, and- well, pretty much everyone else stood in silence, as the two halves of the circle continued the same flowing pattern to the two Celestrians. It continued for quite a bit, but it got faster and faster upon noticing how the circle seems to be refilling itself as it enters Altum and Amare. Korey was surprised that two such Celestrians are capable of doing this kind of thing off._

"Locus fac nobis..."

"Unitum..."

"In Scala ad Caelum!"

 _As the two Celestrians finished their chant, what Drayce could only assume was the final energy transfer was sent to Altum and Amare, before everyone heard a clicking sound, turning their attention to the jewelry box, with its lid opened a tiny bit._  "B-Box opened by itself!"  _Ion uttered, astonished at the tiniest, yet obvious detail._

"That... was amazing..."  _Keiko commented, after the rather flashy light show occurred with the circle._ "What an interesting sight!"  _Kamali concurred, rather amazed by the mere process itself._

 _The gray haired Celestrian walks over to the box and picked it up, likely checking the contents within it before nodding to Amare._ "Keiko Caelum... Demetria Caelum... please step forward."  _Amare spoke up, turning to the twin Therians, who look at each other before making their way to the rather tiny Necromancer._

_Though two questions still remained on everyone's minds - just what exactly was in that box, and why was it sealed in the labyrinth?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English version of the Latin words  
> \-------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Maledicite antqiuis praeteritum... (Curse of the ancient past...)
> 
> Antiquis magicae antiquorum transiit... (Ancient magic of the ancient past...)
> 
> Ecce sto si aliquis frangat juramentum Millennium... (Here we stand to break a millennium curse...)
> 
> Ut conteram de vetus mana antiquorum... (To break the ancient mana of old...)
> 
> Redi meae vis maeldictiones has convertet... (Return the force of my curses...)
> 
> Redi mystici vias meas magicae... (Return the mystical ways of my magic...)
> 
> Locus fac nobis... (Make room for us...)
> 
> Unitum... (United...)


	10. Treasures left for the Future Descendants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After unlocking the jewelry box, the Lux and Angelward Guild can finally see what’s been locked inside. What were the items sealed away, and what do they do is about to be revealed...

_Amare stared at the twin Therians, a small smile forming on her face. Never before would she be granting the items within the box to two of her friends' descendants, but she felt happy. Why was that the case..._

"Your bravery to protect us was admirable,"  _Amare began, pushing aside her own thoughts for the time being._  "and you two proved that you care for each other, despite the flaws you have inside you. If Caelum was alive right now, he'd be overjoyed at this sight..."

"I'm sure that he's smiling as he looks upon us. I just know it."  _Keiko hummed, growing a smile on her face, which made Amare's smile more visible to her and the others._

"I'm sure he must be..."  _Demetria concurred. Amare looked up at the 'taller' Therian._  "Keiko, though you may not have realized it at the time, you radiate the same kindness as Caelum once had. For that, I believe this sacred relic will suit you just fine..."

 _Amare placed her hand into the box, grabbing a strand of tiny, curved beads, each radiating a different color for every third bead. Drayce tilted his head in confusion upon seeing what the Necromancer picked up._  "Is that a necklace, or something?"  _He inquired, as Amare turned to face the dragoon._

"What exactly does a necklace have that makes it sacred?"  _Korey added._ "This isn't an ordinary necklace... This is the necklace Caelum once worn - Yasakani no Magatama."  _Amare explained, holding the necklace of beads in front of her for everyone to see._

"Ooooooh, it pretty looking necklace!"  _Ion commented, gazing at the necklace from where he stood. Kyo and Hilda, though standing from afar, can easily see the necklace that was on display, rather awestruck by how pretty it looked._

"This necklace always made whoever wore it filled with benevolence. I suppose that's how it can explain why Caelum had such a kind-hearted personality. Just looking at it again is bringing such nostalgia to my heart..."  _Amare sighed, looking at the necklace for a few seconds before having the courage in her to move towards Keiko._

"...I'm afraid you're gonna have to kneel if I can hope to get this necklace around you."  _She commented, being rather shorter than she had hoped to be._  "O-Oh, like this?"  _Keiko asked, sitting on her knees._

_Amare nodded, before unlocking the necklace, and proceeds to carefully wrap it around Keiko's neck, locking the necklace in place once she found the right spot. Despite the cold temperature of the beads, Keiko still gazed down at the necklace she now wore with amazement in her eyes._

"It definitely suits you, sis."  _Her twin sister spoke, helping her sister stand up._  "Yeah! Ion think necklace fits Keiko to a T!"  _The orange-red haired Celestrian complimented, as she gained a blush on her cheeks._

"Indeed it does! I can already feel the benevolence flowing through me!"  _Keiko beamed, hugging her sister for a bit as she returned the hug for a few quick seconds._ _The pink haired Celestrian soon went back to the jewelry box, obtaining a bow that appeared to be folded in half. The colors were not that of a regular bow, yet it brought questions to the two guilds, regardless._

"Observe."  _She blankly told them, seeming to press something on the bow, as the other half of the bow swiftly attach itself to the end of the bow Amare held. A mysterious red light appeared from both ends, likely forming the string of the bow itself. Some parts of the bow had been decorated with spikes, though whether they're sharp enough to hurt or not remains to be known._

 _Everyone gasped in surprise at the sudden, yet swift transformation._  "I-It changed! That's so cool!"  _Drayce exclaimed, his surprise changing into one of  amusement._

"Now it's an even different bow." _Zohar simply commented, though Blayke wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not._ _Hilda placed a finger on her chin, blinking a couple of times as she stared at the bow._

"Why does that color scheme of the bow remind me of something?" _The white haired Harbinger muttered to herself. She can't help but wonder if the bow was even made to look like that at all._ _Regardless, it gave her shivers just looking at it. It was radiating an unseen aura that felt all too familiar to her, yet she cannot recall what exactly it was._

"This weapon was once used by Caelum, as the people of our era claimed it fell from the Yggdrasil, having a rather tough endurance. None knows how it was formed, or where it fell from the Yggdrasil, but it was a relic worthy of the Therians to witness and wield."  _Amare explained all that she knew about the bow held in her hand._

"Does it have a name?"  _Kamali asked. Amare blinked a few times, both at Kamali, and at the bow in her hand._

"Well, the Therians at the time believed it to be an eternal bow, meant to never break no matter how hard they tried. Thus, they named it, Aeterna, the eternal bow."  _She disclosed, tracing a finger along the string of the bow._  "And despite using the bow many times over in the past, Caelum never brought this bow to the Legendary War."  _Altum added, speaking up as he hands the jewelry box back to Korey._

"Why would he not use it, then?"  _Korey asked the Celestrian before him, but he simply didn't respond._  "Maybe he didn't want it to be lost in the battlefield." _Zohar shot a guess, trying to answer the brown haired fencer's question._

_Beta soon started growling as everyone turned to see a Rabid Acorn staring at the hound, making little movement. Amare, though not proficient at using bows, held the bow and placed her hand on the red light, pulling it back. Before the others could question what she was doing, bits of miasma from the air around them gathered into the bow, forming an arrow-like shape on the bow._

"What the hell?! The miasma's forming an arrow!"  _Blayke exclaimed, surprised that such a bow can manipulate the miasma around them._

"This bow uses the miasma from the surrounding area for its ammunition. But the miasma gets changed once it hits the intended target..."  _Amare explained in a monotone voice, releasing the string as the arrow went straight towards the Rabid Acorn. The monster barely had time to register the hit, as it soon felt the arrow pierce through it, causing it to slowly walk around in pain before falling to the floor with a rather solid sound than the sound of wet grass._

_Seconds passed before Ion gasped at what happened next. The color the Rabid Acorn once had started to slowly change into a strange stone-like structure. The miasma arrow soon vanished afterward._

"Rabid Acorn lost all color! What happened?!"  _Ion gasped, turning to the Necromancer and asked her what happened to the monster standing before them previously._

"The miasma that flowed into the bow created a petrifying arrow,"  _Amare began._  "Depending on how much the target resists the miasma, the faster it is to petrify them. That fact alone was what soon made Caelum want to seal it before he went to the war." _Altum added, placing his hands in his coat pockets._

 _Zohar placed a finger on his chin, rather intrigued by the bow's function._  "But despite that, wouldn't normal arrows still suffice?"  _The male Necromancer spoke up, wondering if it was still able to fire off typical arrows._

"Caelum was well aware of the bow's function, and was prepared well with tons of arrows at his disposal. But even with that in mind, he wanted to simply seal it away before someone with evil intentions got their hands on it."  _Altum responded, recalling his old friend's exact words before they were tasked to overlook the box in question._

 _The pink haired Necromancer walked towards Demetria, holding the bow out in front of her._ "That said, I entrust you with this bow, praying it will be of use to you as you travel through the Yggdrasil. Keep your strong will about you as you use this. A misfire can be rather severe to you, or your friends."

 _Demetria picks up the bow, doing her best to not prick her finger on the spikes it. She turned it around to look at the finer details, though the bow itself felt like it was made from scales of some kind._  "T-thanks, Amare. I'll be sure to to keep this protected."

 _Amare simply smirked back at the smiling Rover Therian._  "No need for thanks, great descendant of Caelum."  _She started to make her way back to Altum._

"Wait, what are you planning to do now?"  _Charon inquired, stopping the Necromancer halfway through to her destination, as she turned back to face Charon._  "Going to find something to end our lives... we aren't worthy of living for as long as we have."  _She spoke, her voice rather shaky and frail._

"You're just gonna end it all after living so long? Is that how friends- no, is that how a married couple is supposed to act?!"  _Charon busted into anger, startling everyone in the room._

_Married? Those two were married and no one in the room noticed the rings the had on their fingers?_ _Amare sighed, blinking as she turned to face him._

"It's not like we wanted to live this long, you know. Words can be a curse, sometimes..."  _The way Amare spoke back to him was really ticking off Charon._

"So what? Now that you're free of that burden, you can finally raise a family without worry over one stinkin' box! You can even join the Lux Guild, for all that it's worth!"  _Charon exclaimed, trying to calm himself down little by little._

_Ion wanted to walk up to him and calm the Harbinger down, but he felt like it was mere instinct to just let Charon let out all of his anger and not provoke him. Hilda felt like she was witnessing the same event that happened to her and Byron... though the circumstances were quite different than before. Altum had a bit of guilt in his eyes, unable to utter a single word as he let the Harbinger's words sink in._

"You can do both of those options,"  _Drayce finally mustered the courage to speak up, after what seemed like an eternity._  "Honestly, it wouldn't hurt for you to finally live your lives after holding onto this burden for so long. Besides, you can be of help to both the Angelward and Lux guilds with the knowledge you two possess!"  _He continued, feeling rather proud of his statement as Amare spotted a smile forming on the Dragoon's face._

_Was it worth it, though? Amare didn't really feel like she accomplished much, aside from releasing the box she sealed of the curse she placed on it. She wasn't sure if she would do much in a battle... Given her and Altum's age, it felt like they would only slow them down._

"But it won't be the same..."  _Amare groaned, clutching her left arm, as if she is unable to truly decide what to do next. Life, or death... Was it that hard to choose?_

"...Hm?"  _Keiko's ears perked up, feeling like she heard something approaching them. Demetria turned upon hearing the sudden noise from her sister._  "What's up, sis?"  _She queried, wondering why she's looking around._

"Is it just me... or do I see a ghost approaching?"  _Keiko responded with a question of her own, as everyone else started looking for the sign of the ghost she mentioned._  "Where, though?"  _Blayke groaned, turning all around, a bit worried something from higher up on Yggdrasil might have made its way down._

"Over there!"  _Amare turned to where Keiko finally stopped and pointed, gasping for a bit, as she was unable to believe her eyes. It had the same presence as a Necromancer's Wraith, but... for some reason, it looked more... Therian, than a Wraith._

"What the..."  _Ion could only muster, rather surprised upon seeing the Therian-shaped Wraith. Although the colors of the wraith had more priority than the color it took shape in, it looked like it had the same skin and eye color as Keiko and Demetria, albeit a much higher shade of color due to the overlaying color of the wraith, and he looked like he was the same height as Yorick, his garb looking like that of a male Rover._ _But there was no mistaking it... That smile of his..._

"C-Caelum?"  _marveled Amare, as the gray haired Celestrian turned and soon found himself with a perplexed look on his face. It seemed too real to be one of Amare's wraiths..._

"You look surprised, Amare."  _The wraith known as Caelum spoke up, with a rather easygoing tone about in his voice. The tiny Necromancer could only walk towards him, her movements now similar to that of a curious child._

"B-But I... I thought you were just a regular wraith when I found you wandering the labyrinth."  _Amare quavered, at a lost for words as to how her old friend was standing here through her wraith._

 _The Therian merely smirked back at Amare, placing his ghostly hand on her head and patted her on the head._  "The necklace that I once wore allows for its bearer to see wraiths and ghosts with good-intentions."  _He chuckled, looking over to see Keiko, Demetria, and the others approach him._

"I must say, I didn't expect twin descendants. But you two definitely have my colors down to a T!"  _He noted, rather glad to meet his great-grand children in person- er, in the afterlife in the form of a wraith._

 _Keiko simply smiled, as Demetria knelt to her knees to be able to communicate with Caelum better._  "That's so sweet of you."  _She hummed, seeing  the smile on Caelum's face. Guess even in the afterlife, his kind spirit still remained._

 _Caelum soon placed his hand on Amare's shoulder._  "Listen, Amare. I know living for a thousand years is no easy feat... but I think you should move on from the burden of passing on."  _Caelum began, taking a deep breath as if he expected this conversation of his to drag on for hours._

"B-But I-"  _Amare was stopped when she felt Altum's hand place itself on her other shoulder, bending down to her height, and silently urged her to listen. Her eyes drooped in defeat, before gazing back at the wraith speaking to them._

"I know nothing about what happens beyond this point in our lives, but know that I'm watching over you and my great-grand children with a watchful eye. I want you two to move on from wanting to pass on, so you can teach the world about what happened at the Legendary War."  _Caelum continued, almost speaking as if he was giving a mission to soldiers._

 _The Therian male looked up at the sky, almost as if contemplating something._  "There may be treasures remaining within the ancient battlefield... waiting to be rediscovered. With you two there, you can assist my descendants, and the red haired gentleman over beside the brown haired fencer."

 _Drayce let out a chuckle as Amare and Altum turned to face the two males Caelum mentioned._ "Please, Amare... I refuse to lose anyone to the labyrinth, or to that black haired Harbinger."  _Charon insisted, as the Necromancer turned her head to the male harbinger._

_Those people were wanting them to live their lives out til they can no longer move. Was it really worth living out more than a few years just to hope they can finally start a loving family? Or was it merely an out-of-instinct situation for them? The questions started to fill her mind, making it harder for her to make a single decision._

"Come on, Mrs. Amare,"  _Keiko chimed in, kneeling beside the pink haired Necromancer._  "We'll make sure you're well cared for in our guild!"  _She chirped, before giving Amare a sudden surprise hug, as they heard a chuckle from Caelum._

"She really does have my inherited kindness. That's someone worthy of the Caelum name for ya."  _Caelum hummed, placing his hands in his pocket._

 _Silence filled the room for a few minutes, as Keiko finally removed herself from hugging the tiny Necromancer. Amare, who was the one who did the most thinking than Altum, finally spoke up._  "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look after your great grand-children, old friend..."  _Altum finally smiled, wrapping an arm around Amare, trying not to shift his weight on her as he gave her a hug of his own._

"I guess that settles that, then."  _Caelum sighed, waiting for Altum to finish his hug before the Therian wraith can approach the two of them and gave them a hug, as the old couple returned a hug of their own._  "It's a shame we only got to see you after so long..."  _Altum sniffed, feeling tears come to his eyes._

"I know, bro... But I'll always be watching over you all, waiting to fight by your side as a wraith."  _Caelum reassured the elderly Celestrian male, before finally vanishing, as the two separate from the spot where Caelum once stood._

"Need a hand?"  _Charon queried, extending his hands to the two Celestrians. They each extend on hand of theirs to take his hand, as he helped them up. Korey let out a huge sigh of relief, as the red haired dragoon turned his attention to the brown haired fencer._

"A bit tired or something?"  _He inquired, seeing Korey's blue eyes gaze at him._  "A little,"  _Korey replied._  "But I'm also glad we also stopped more deaths from happening."

 _Drayce simply smirked and patted Korey's back._  "Well, I can allow your guild to stay at my guild house for tonight. Think of it as thanks for letting us help out with this treasure hunt."  _He disclosed, getting the fencer to perk up from his nearly exhausted state._

"That would be great, Drayce. Thanks."  _Korey hummed, as the dragoon let out a simple 'no problem' in response._

 _Blayke approached the two males._  "I hate to interrupt, but Drayce, you should probably report the news of the two ancient treasures to Ramus."  _He suggested, seeing Drayce place a hand on his hip._ "Don't worry, we'll get to it. Ramus will be pleased to hear about this." 

 _Hilda tiled her head upon hearing Drayce speak something about Ramus._  "Ramus is interested in treasure?"  _She queried, getting a smirk from the dragoon._ "Yeah, that's the whole reason me and my guild are out exploring the labyrinth."  _He replied, before turning to Zohar and Kamali._

"Zohar, Kamali, I want you to take the rest of the Lux Guild back to the Crescentia. Me, Korey, the Therian twins, and the elderly Celestrians will speak with Ramus about the treasure we found."  _He issued, as the two Celestrians nodded in confirmation._  "Hopefully by the time you'll be back, dinner would be ready."  _Blayke commented, overhearing the conversation at hand._

_Drayce couldn't help but chuckle at his best friend, before making a motion to get going to the Crescentia. The dark skinned Necromancer called out to the other members of the Lux Guild, urging them to follow them as they make their way out of the labyrinth. Korey soon turned to see Amare and Altum holding each other's hand._

"Do you two do that often?"  _Korey mindlessly asked, as the two Celestrians halted a few feet in front of him._  "We do it a lot more often than you think. It's more for the safety of our hearts that we know we stand together as husband and wife."  _Altum argued, quickly shutting down the conversation as quick as it began, as the fencer merely nodded in understanding._

_Since the limit of an Ariadne Thread was limited to five guild members, the group of six had to walk out of the labyrinth, taking note of the guard who watched over the chickens was burying the corpses of the mercenaries. Guess Ion must have told the guard what happened, so he the one guard in the labyrinth to work with burying the remains of his old friends. Korey let out a sigh as they make it past the guard, who waved at Drayce._

"Are you still upset that you were unable to save the mercenaries?"  _Keiko asked, seeing Korey nod his head in response to her question._  "It hurts, but I was hoping we weren't too late... And here I'm worried we might not make it for anyone else we meet."  _He continued, trying not to let his sadness get the best of him._

"Relax, Korey,"  _Altum spoke up, as the fencer glanced at the elderly Celestrian._  "Don't dwell on it too much. You managed to save a few people from death's grasp, and that's all that counts, right?"  _The gray haired Celestrian asked, letting the fencer dwell on it, hearing Korey utter 'yeah'._

_The group soon reaches the stairs, back on the trail to head to the Council Hall in town. Walking from the entrance to the hall wasn't that long, as they got there relatively in time to see a passing guild walk by them, seemingly done with their business with Ramus. Drayce motions for the group to follow him, not wasting a second longer._

_Korey perks up to see Ramus adjusting some things on his desk. Something like, books or something, it wasn't important at the moment. The young prince does eventually look in their direction, letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing Drayce and Korey._

"Ah, Drayce, Korey. Didn't expect to see you here together."  _Ramus greeted, as the group before them sat down on some nearby chairs._  "Well, Drayce and his guild assisted us with the recover of two sacred treasures we believe might peak your interest."  _Korey explained, doing his best not to yawn mid-sentence._

 _Ramus turned to see Keiko and Demetria both having items they previously did not have on them before, before turning to see the married Celestrians._  "I suppose these two Celestrians are with you, guys?"  _Ramus queried._

"They're with my guild, your majesty,"  _Korey began._  "They helped us retrieve the weapons from the box we found on the first floor."  _He explained, as Amare and Altum soon quickly bowed to Ramus._

"I'm Amare... and this is my husband, Altum."  _Amare introduced herself, along with her husband._ "You see, we're from an era that eventually reached a certain part of the year where the Legendary War takes place in. Though you're free to interpret us as survivors of the war, if it pleases you."  _Altum began, seeing Ramus' expression change in surprise upon him hearing that the two were survivors of the ancient war._

"That's interesting... Survivors of the Legendary War. That's something I never thought would happen..."  _Ramus muttered to himself, before looking back at the two Celestrians._

"I am Prince Ramus. It's an honor to meet with survivors of the Legendary War, so I hope I'm not bothering you two so much with questions..."  _Ramus introduced himself to the two Celestrians._

"You're fine, Prince Ramus... We've been asked many questions in the past, it makes no difference."  _Amare commented, before Ramus' attention soon faces the twin Therians._

"I've noticed Keiko and Demetria both have new items..."  _Ramus began, seeing Korey lean forward in the corner of his eye._  "The items they got are the two treasure's we speak of."  _Korey disclosed, as Keiko held the necklace up so Ramus can see the beads more clearly._

"This necklace belonged to me and Demetria's ancestor, who was given great amount of benevolence upon wearing it. It also allowed us to see wraiths and spirits with good intentions, revealing what they look like originally."  _The Masurao described, soon unhooking the necklace so Ramus can easily see the necklace in his hand, as he looks at the necklace a couple of times._

"Most interesting... a necklace that allows one to see ghosts and wraiths. A strange concept, but an interesting treasure, nonetheless."  _Ramus commented, giving the necklace back to Keiko._

 _Keiko attempted to recall what the name of the necklace was- she kind of forgotten it when the whole ordeal in the labyrinth occurred._  "It's called the Yasakani no Magatama."  _Amare chimed in, as Keiko thanks her for reminding her of the name._

"Regardless,"  _Demetria began, after helping Keiko place the necklace back on._  "This weapon Caelum- our ancestor, used is a rather mysterious bow."

 _The female Rover shows the him the bow, as he looks at the full design of the bow._  "Mysterious in what way, may I ask?"  _He queried._

 _Demetria gulped, unsure if she wanted to discuss any further on it._  "Come on, sis. Don't keep him waiting!"  _Keiko assured her sister, putting her hand on her shoulder._

 _It took a while for Demetria to muster up her courage to speak._  "T-The bow uses miasma-shaped arrows to try and petrify the enemy."  _She finally explained._

 _Ramus placed a hand on his chin, most curious by what she explained._  "Miasma-inducing petrify? Sounds rather dangerous if it got in the wrong hands. I suppose it was a good thing you and the Angelward Guild found it first."

 _Demetria could only muster a tiny smile._  "I suppose so... guess it was also why Caelum didn't use it in the Legendary War- to prevent those with evil intentions from getting their hands on it. The Aeterna has quite the mysterious origin..."  _She commented, telling the prince the origin of how the bow came into Therian hands._

 _The prince nodded with intrigue._  "Most interesting... Perhaps you will likely find the origin of the Aeterna if you traverse through Yggdrasil."  _He wondered, wanting to know more about how the bow was made._

 _Ramus turned to Drayce and Korey, with a rather pleased smile upon his face._  "I suppose this discovery of ancient treasure will be shared alongside the both of you, since the two guilds worked in co-operation to obtain them."  _Ramus began, as Korey couldn't help but chuckle._

"I dunno, I feel like it was rather simple, at best."  _Korey argued._  "Yeah, as if having to fight another guild to ensure these two Celestrians over here weren't dying is what I would call 'simple'."  _Demetria commented, getting a stare from the fencer, and a chuckle from Ramus._

"Regardless of how or what happened to get the treasure, I trust that Keiko and Demetria will make sure that these treasures do not fall into the wrong hands."  _Ramus continued, picking up where he left off earlier._ "We'll do our best, your highness."  _The twin Therians responded simultaneously, catching them a bit off guard before giggling at each other and scratched their heads._ _Ramus couldn't help but smile at how adorable their connection is._

"Sun's nearly set."  _Altum spoke up, as everyone turns to see Altum look through a window._  "I hear it might get cold tonight, so the sooner we head out, the less we'll face the cold."  _He added._

 _Cold wasn't Amare's favorite temperature to be around. No less due to not having that much clothes, she always had to zip up her hoodie just to ensure that she wouldn't be cold._  "Just wish I had an extra layer of clothes..."  _She sighed, feeling rather bummed about having to deal with the cold._

 _Keiko looked at Demetria, before looking at Amare._  "Then I guess that settles it! We're gonna shop for clothes!"  _Keiko hummed, grabbing Amare's hand and pulled her out of her seat._

"R-Right now?! Are you crazy?!"  _Amare shouted, as Keiko and the tiny Necromancer left the Council Hall, leaving Demetria to sigh and get up._

"I'll keep an eye on them. We'll meet at the Crescentia when we're finished."  _She groaned. Although her sister is persistent, she had to keep an eye on her, regardless, as she called out to Beta to follow her, to which the hound obeyed without delay._

 _Korey couldn't help but chuckle to himself._  "Those two are inseparable twins..."  _He hummed, getting up from his chair, alongside Drayce and Altum._

_The boys thank Ramus for taking the time to talk to him, as he wishes them a good afternoon, seeing the three boys walk out of the Council Hall._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drayce, Zohar, Blayke, and Kamali belong to TheShatteredRose


End file.
